Ok. This is turning out to be a bit of a drama, too, so bear with me here. I'm kinda interested in finding out where I'm taking this little ditty myself!
DarkFlame136
#########################################################################
ch. 1: One of THOSE Days
#########################################################################
Two demons passed, one blue, one red. Both were chatting, not really paying attention to anything or anyone. No problem there. All the same, the being remained hidden until they rounded the corner.
Not sensing anyone else coming, Sairen stepped out of the shadows. All the same, though, she decided to keep her spirit/psychic energy stifled. 'Don't wanna miff this. Not like Koenma knows what he's doing, anyway, but still.'
With a small smile, Sairen casually but carefully made her way towards Sector S. The "S" may have stood for "Security at High" or something like that--she forgot what exactly--but personally, she felt they might as well have named it after her, as much as she was in and out. 'Most of the stuff there is mine, anyway. Damn spirit police.'
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost forgot to dance around the security lasers crossing the next hall. Passing this test (which she could do in her sleep by now), Sairen came to a large, heavy steel door. Before she had time to punch in the code for the lock, she sensed someone coming.
'Damn. Change of plans.' Instead of going through the next three or so security checks, she decided to bypass everything and go straight to Vault 66. 'Now, where's that stupid air vent?' Spying both it and a shadow on the wall behind her, she quickly turned into a light mist and literally slipped through the vent. Two lefts and three rights later, she emerged in...the men's bathroom.
"What the hell?" she said aloud before checking herself.
"Who's there?" a slightly nasal voice called from one of the stalls.
Thinking fast, she changed her own voice. "Oh, dear me! I had no idea that anyone was in here! Forgive me, I'll come back and clean up later!"
"Wait! Before you go, could you leave some toilet paper?"
"Er...sure. I'll have to go out and get it off the cart."
"Make it snappy! I don't want to be stranded until someone else comes back here, since no one probably will, with this area being top-secret!"
Biting off her crude reply, Sairen instead used the time to haul ass out of there before hers got caught. Whoever was in the bathroom would have to find something else to wipe theirs.
In reality, though, she felt a little sorry for them, but not much. 'That person reminded me of that brat Koenma. His voice is just so...annoying sometimes. Maybe if he didn't sound like that I'd have a bit more sympathy.' All the same, she resolved to grab some toilet paper from the girl's bathroom. AFTER she found what she was looking for. 'I should take my time to enjoy the scenery this time.' She laughed aloud at the thought of whoever sitting on the pot for who knows how long, trying to decide whether or not to sacrifice their outfit in the name of hygiene, wait for the next guy (or girl) to wander in and save them, or simply walk out and try to act normal until they get to another bathroom that DOES have t. p. In fact, she was so busy giggling that she didn't even respond when she felt a familiar presence in the room a little further down.
"What in the world...? Oh, hello there! I've been trying to figure out how to find you, and here you are!"
"Huh?" sobering up, she turned to see a lady in a pink kimono with blue hair running towards her. "Oh, hey, Botan. BOTAN?!" By then, she remembered that she was in the middle of a heist, if you can call taking your own stuff back stealing.
"Sairen! It's been too long; the last--"
"Will you shut up for a minute! Please," she added, seeing the hurt look on her friend's face. "I'm not exactly visiting, you know. I'm here on, well, business."
"Business? So Lord Koenma has managed to get in touch with you. He must have sent a message before he went to the bathroom."
"He WHAT?" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'That was an even closer call than I thought!'
Botan, sensing a change in temperament, quickly added, "Of course he wouldn't have put his own name on the message, but you can at least hear him out on this one!"
Sairen sighed. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I have something to do at the moment. Just tell me after, k?" Without waiting for an answer, she took off down the hall.
"Sairen, wait!"
"What? What about Sairen?" that nasal voice once again came from the stall in the bathroom. Soon after, following a few hurried footsteps, the owner stuck his head out of the outer door.
"Where's that maid...Botan! If you're talking to the maid, let her go get some tissue paper first. I'm dying in here!"
"Sorry, Sir, but I haven't seen any of the maids around here."
"Then...who were you gossiping with this time?"
"Sai...er, signing! I was signing a form for one of the delivery boys." Botan covered up.
Koenma raised an eyebrow. "Botan...?"
"Sir?" **Nervous laughter**
"No delivery boys are ALLOWED in Sector S!"
"Really? *hehe* I must have forgotten..." Poor Botan: no amount of talking was going to get her out of this one.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sairen had not wasted a second, figuring she's have to apologize to Botan later for blowing her off. Little did she know that Botan would be the one apologizing to HER.
In the meantime, Sairen had found and entered Vault 4. Why not Vault 66? "Because Koenma seems to get a bad feeling when more than one six is in the same place at the same time. I bet that's been further supported by me getting past security every so often." Muttering to herself about silly superstitions, she finally came upon what she was searching for.
The large cherry oak box was locked, though, and not just by key. While unraveling the enchantment on the box (only to find another, more subtle one hidden underneath), Sairen added more to her previous comment. "I wonder where they moved HER stuff, since the vault number had all three sixes in it!"
Carefully picking the lock ('I may keep this box. It's pretty!'), she opened the heavy lid. Resting on purple velvet was one of her most prized possessions.
"Hold it, Sairen!"
*Tsk* *Sigh* She didn't even have to turn around to know that the toddler and his playmates were standing in the doorway. "Piss off, dear, I'm in a hurry." Reaching down to claim her blade, she was quickly repelled. FITZ! CRACKLE! "Ow! Damn!"
"Ha! I knew that funny squiggly writing would work!"
"But, Lord Koenma, you said that--"
"Quiet! Can't you see I'm trying to make a superior impression?"
In the meantime, Sairen cradled her burned hand. With a sneer, she studied the sheath over the sword more closely. 'What?!' Etched on were a few tiny, very rare symbols, no more than three or four different ones, all glowing. Above it was the kanji symbol for "Air".
Quietly, she asked, "Where the hell did you find that spell?"
"Amazed? I thought you'd be," came the matter-of-fact reply from Koenma, "though if it wasn't for Botan, I probably wouldn't have been able to see your face when you ran into the extra security."
"Hmph."
From outside, behind the door, Botan had been peeping in to see what would happen. Upon hearing her name, she jumped, jerking back her head and pressing herself against the wall. "Why does he have to talk so much?" she whispered.
"One could say the same."
"YIKES!" Botan yelped, jumping again (this time, she rose two feet off the floor as opposed to one). 'I forgot how fast she was!'
"I don't know what you said, hon, but--"
"Aw, man, I forgot how fast she was! Don't just stand there, get her!!!" an annoyed Koenma ordered from inside.
The five other demons--quite large, one might add--visibly blanched.
"You want us to...physically restrain her?"
"Well, duh!"
This statement met with even more discomfort. Sairen just laughed. "Sorry, Koenma, but some people learn after the FIRST time they touch a hot stove!"
Botan stepped in. "I know I may regret this later, but this mission is way too serious for holding back. Sairen, go with Lord Koenma."
"Say WHAT?!" both parties mentioned were shocked at the sudden change in events.
"For me, Sairen. Please." Turning to Koenma, she added, "And you! Don't do anything to make her say otherwise! You and I both know how much we need her!"
"Botan, what in the nine hells have you been going on about for the past ten or so minutes?" a curious, yet irked all the same, Sairen demanded.
Koenma recovered as well, "Come with me and you'll find out soon enough."
With another sigh, she allowed herself to be lead by one of the most irritating people in the multi-dimentional universe. When she walked by, Koenma's, er, "escorts", leapt back out of the way; they cowered even more when she stopped to stare at them.
Hearing some noise, Koenma stopped, too. "Now what are you up to?"
"Nothing; I was just about to ask them that question. Really, you need better trained guards or whatever. They're not supposed to cower at a regular visitor."
"Sairen: as far as I can tell, you are NOT regular!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The walk to Koenma's (dad's) office was uneventful, which was just fine with the majority of the party. However, that began to change as soon as the office door came into view.
Sairen, for some inexplicable reason, stopped dead in her tracks. She sniffed the air. One of the demon "escorts"--all of which were keeping a good three feet between themselves and the new arrival--began to look a little nervous around the same time Botan's face began twitching.
Koenma, as usual, misinterpreted everything. "Ok. Which one of you cut the cheese?"
"No, Koenma, that is not what I'm smelling," Sairen responded with a slight tremor in her voice. "But if you must know, it was the blue demon with the glasses who's trying to act like nothing happened."
"EWW! Doorknob!" the other four shouted, immediately clearing the area. Botan and Koenma, who then had began to smell something themselves, wrinkled their noses and moved to the side. "You couldn't have given us a warning?" the latter complained, holding his nose.
"Who is wearing cologne?"
"Um, Sairen, I don't think that's what we're smelling."
"Who is wearing cologne?" she repeated, this time a bit louder.
When no one answered, Sairen shifted her gaze to an even more nervous Botan. After a few seconds, she broke the silence. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"You know what I'm going to ask, so you might as well save time and just spill."
Still fidgety, Botan began, "Um, Lord Koenma was seeing two other people before we ran into you..."
"...And?..."
"...and, they're still here." Then, out of nowhere, Botan straightened up and snapped back, "Oh, for heaven's sake, Sairen, can't you two just put THAT behind you for at least this occasion? because you can just not talk to each other for the rest of your lives, for all I care, though I'd personally like to see you back together!" she paused. "*Whew*, there! I said it!"
The door opened. "Yes, you did," an amused Kurama observed. "Now if you can just give HIM that lecture, then we should be fine for a while, anyway."
"Highly unlikely, given THAT woman's fickle humor," a second voice explained, further inside the room.
"What's that, Smurf Man?"
Koenma, despite his better judgment, decided to step in. "Now, now, you two--"
"Oh, stay out of it!" was the response from both sides. Koenma, with a reasonable fear for his health, decided to do just that. For now, anyway, he just crossed his arms and pouted. "Hmph!"
Sairen happened to glance at Botan, who was trying very hard not to hurt someone herself. "What?! He started it, with that domineering-ass attitude of his--"
"That 'domineering-ass attitude' of his may have saved yours in the long run!" Botan shouted a little louder than necessary.
"What are you talking about?"
"Save your breath, Botan," the owner of the second voice came closer, "it's not like she'd appreciate what I was trying to do now if she didn't at the time."
"Hiei, I'm sure you can at least act like temporary allies if nothing more," Kurama tried reasoning with his friend. Personally, though, he was starting to agree with Botan's last statement, especially since Hiei's been a bit more sulky as of late...
"I absolutely refuse to work with HER/HIM!" they both yelled.
"Good. You agree on something. It's a start."
Noticing the slight twitch of Kurama's eye made Sairen back up a little. Straight into Botan. "And where do you think you're going?"
Botan had used her 'This Is Going to Hut You More Than It Will Me' tone. Sairen wasn't the only one who noticed it.
"Did she just use her 'This Is Going to Hurt You More Than It Will Me' tone?" Hiei asked.
Botan and Kurama looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. Before either of the two could do anything about it, Sairen and Hiei were grabbed by their respective 'supposed' friends and practically thrown together.
"What the hell?!"
"Since when did YOU come with Kung-Fu grip?"
"We're not letting either of you move until you call a truce," Botan declared.
"And if we don't?" Hiei challenged. Behind him, Kurama uncharacteristically cracked his knuckles. "You wouldn't...!"
"You of all people should know how impatient I am with fools, Hiei."
"He's right," Botan agreed, "the situation is too grave for you two to spend the time arguing. This can't be done without anyone."
Sairen's turn: "You know, Botan, you never DID tell me why the hell you ratted me out back there."
"Serves you right, Sairen."
"Shut up, Hiei."
Koenma cleared his throat. "**Ahem**. I will explain everything over again, though with more detail this time. Bot--er, one of you," he pointed to the group of demons in the background, "go contact Yurameshi and Kuwabara. We might as well bring everyone together." 'Mainly to help keep those two from tearing each other apart' he silently added. Glancing over at the frosty glares Sairen and Hiei were batting back and forth, Koenma had to shudder at the sheer amount of damage that could be done if they DID decide to have at it.
Speaking of scary things, Sairen was...smiling?!? "It's that serious, eh? Well, now..."
' 'wonder who's going to die first?' Hiei wondered with a straight face.
"...Let's...make...a little wager, shall we?"
Koenma faltered. "Um, well...that is...i don't know, Sairen--"
Hiei couldn't keep quiet. "Careful, Koenma, this may literally cost you an arm and a leg!"
"And i just may rip yours off and beat you with it--"
"I'd have to agree with Hiei on this one," Kurama stated. "I may not know you very well personally, Sairen, but I've heard a lot about you."
"If you hadn't, I'd be surprised." She wasn't too happy about the 'lore and legend' about her and her other friends, but she supposed they all deserved it. 'I guess that's what I get for being so headstrong and quick-tempered.' "Anyway, I wasn't thinking anything drastic. But all the same, I'd like my s**t back."
Koenma lost around five years off his life span; Koenma attempted to keep his own poker face despite the slight loss of color (Botan wasn't too better off); Hiei, well, he wasn't surprised in the least. 'Figures she'd pull something like that.'
Koenma recovered with a shake of the head. "I don't think i can do that, Sairen--"
"What exactly are you afraid of, Koenma? I COULD have asked for 'You-know-Who's' toys as well, but I think it's best to leave those here. And it's not like I haven't been behaving lately."
"She's even managed to stay out of your Incident files for six months," Hiei put in.
"Yeah. Hey!"
"You must admit, Lord Koenma, we may need a few of her gadgets for this mission," Botan reasoned.
"Yes. And some may even work for the others as well." One could practically see the hamster running on the wheel in Koenma's head, powering the light bulb above it. "I can assume you won't cause any problems--"
"I thought that was why you WANTED my assistance?"
'It's what she does best.' A barely suppressed laugh from Hiei earned him a tug on the hair from Kurama. Thinking better of turning around and smacking him, he simply growled his annoyance.
"Tell you what: You help us out, and I'll let you keep SOME OF what's stored away," Jr. bargained.
"Given the fact that those items belong to ME and were not obtained with my permission--" Sairen began.
"More the reason I'm not risking MY backside by letting you have them back! But, if everything works out, I'm sure you'll gain a few points for government service, if you know what I mean."
Botan was shocked. "Sir, you don't mean...?"
He nodded. "Sairen, I'm sure that I could more-or-less forget about your less serious offenses ONLY if," Koenma held up a finger, "we have your full cooperation."
"And you control your temper," Kurama came out of nowhere, blind-siding everyone, Sairen included. "The last thing we need is an unstable Air elemental."
"Air-slash-Fire elemental," corrected Hiei.
Sairen thought for a moment or two. Finally, she spoke, "I'm not sure what's going on, but it feels as if something's off and/or about to go down. Hard. So don't think I'm doing you any favors, Koenma."
Botan glomped her friend. "Yes! I knew I could count on you, Sairen!"
"Just as well," Koenma answered the other's semi-quasi acceptance, "if we can pull this off, it'll clear up around a third of my file space." Spying the dubious look on her face, he added, "You have no idea how large your rap sheet is, do you?"
She ignored that particular shot. "You said 'if'. What happens 'if' our mission's a flop?"
Kurama nudged his friend, who also happened to notice her choice of "our" as opposed to "your". His eyes said as much, assuming one could read them.
"Simply put: if we fail," Koenma paused for effect. "We're all screwed."
##########################################################################
Explanations are forthcoming in the next chapters, so don't hurt yourselves too badly wondering what's happening ^_~ . Lemme know how this one's doing so far!
DarkFlame136
#########################################################################
ch. 1: One of THOSE Days
#########################################################################
Two demons passed, one blue, one red. Both were chatting, not really paying attention to anything or anyone. No problem there. All the same, the being remained hidden until they rounded the corner.
Not sensing anyone else coming, Sairen stepped out of the shadows. All the same, though, she decided to keep her spirit/psychic energy stifled. 'Don't wanna miff this. Not like Koenma knows what he's doing, anyway, but still.'
With a small smile, Sairen casually but carefully made her way towards Sector S. The "S" may have stood for "Security at High" or something like that--she forgot what exactly--but personally, she felt they might as well have named it after her, as much as she was in and out. 'Most of the stuff there is mine, anyway. Damn spirit police.'
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost forgot to dance around the security lasers crossing the next hall. Passing this test (which she could do in her sleep by now), Sairen came to a large, heavy steel door. Before she had time to punch in the code for the lock, she sensed someone coming.
'Damn. Change of plans.' Instead of going through the next three or so security checks, she decided to bypass everything and go straight to Vault 66. 'Now, where's that stupid air vent?' Spying both it and a shadow on the wall behind her, she quickly turned into a light mist and literally slipped through the vent. Two lefts and three rights later, she emerged in...the men's bathroom.
"What the hell?" she said aloud before checking herself.
"Who's there?" a slightly nasal voice called from one of the stalls.
Thinking fast, she changed her own voice. "Oh, dear me! I had no idea that anyone was in here! Forgive me, I'll come back and clean up later!"
"Wait! Before you go, could you leave some toilet paper?"
"Er...sure. I'll have to go out and get it off the cart."
"Make it snappy! I don't want to be stranded until someone else comes back here, since no one probably will, with this area being top-secret!"
Biting off her crude reply, Sairen instead used the time to haul ass out of there before hers got caught. Whoever was in the bathroom would have to find something else to wipe theirs.
In reality, though, she felt a little sorry for them, but not much. 'That person reminded me of that brat Koenma. His voice is just so...annoying sometimes. Maybe if he didn't sound like that I'd have a bit more sympathy.' All the same, she resolved to grab some toilet paper from the girl's bathroom. AFTER she found what she was looking for. 'I should take my time to enjoy the scenery this time.' She laughed aloud at the thought of whoever sitting on the pot for who knows how long, trying to decide whether or not to sacrifice their outfit in the name of hygiene, wait for the next guy (or girl) to wander in and save them, or simply walk out and try to act normal until they get to another bathroom that DOES have t. p. In fact, she was so busy giggling that she didn't even respond when she felt a familiar presence in the room a little further down.
"What in the world...? Oh, hello there! I've been trying to figure out how to find you, and here you are!"
"Huh?" sobering up, she turned to see a lady in a pink kimono with blue hair running towards her. "Oh, hey, Botan. BOTAN?!" By then, she remembered that she was in the middle of a heist, if you can call taking your own stuff back stealing.
"Sairen! It's been too long; the last--"
"Will you shut up for a minute! Please," she added, seeing the hurt look on her friend's face. "I'm not exactly visiting, you know. I'm here on, well, business."
"Business? So Lord Koenma has managed to get in touch with you. He must have sent a message before he went to the bathroom."
"He WHAT?" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'That was an even closer call than I thought!'
Botan, sensing a change in temperament, quickly added, "Of course he wouldn't have put his own name on the message, but you can at least hear him out on this one!"
Sairen sighed. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I have something to do at the moment. Just tell me after, k?" Without waiting for an answer, she took off down the hall.
"Sairen, wait!"
"What? What about Sairen?" that nasal voice once again came from the stall in the bathroom. Soon after, following a few hurried footsteps, the owner stuck his head out of the outer door.
"Where's that maid...Botan! If you're talking to the maid, let her go get some tissue paper first. I'm dying in here!"
"Sorry, Sir, but I haven't seen any of the maids around here."
"Then...who were you gossiping with this time?"
"Sai...er, signing! I was signing a form for one of the delivery boys." Botan covered up.
Koenma raised an eyebrow. "Botan...?"
"Sir?" **Nervous laughter**
"No delivery boys are ALLOWED in Sector S!"
"Really? *hehe* I must have forgotten..." Poor Botan: no amount of talking was going to get her out of this one.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sairen had not wasted a second, figuring she's have to apologize to Botan later for blowing her off. Little did she know that Botan would be the one apologizing to HER.
In the meantime, Sairen had found and entered Vault 4. Why not Vault 66? "Because Koenma seems to get a bad feeling when more than one six is in the same place at the same time. I bet that's been further supported by me getting past security every so often." Muttering to herself about silly superstitions, she finally came upon what she was searching for.
The large cherry oak box was locked, though, and not just by key. While unraveling the enchantment on the box (only to find another, more subtle one hidden underneath), Sairen added more to her previous comment. "I wonder where they moved HER stuff, since the vault number had all three sixes in it!"
Carefully picking the lock ('I may keep this box. It's pretty!'), she opened the heavy lid. Resting on purple velvet was one of her most prized possessions.
"Hold it, Sairen!"
*Tsk* *Sigh* She didn't even have to turn around to know that the toddler and his playmates were standing in the doorway. "Piss off, dear, I'm in a hurry." Reaching down to claim her blade, she was quickly repelled. FITZ! CRACKLE! "Ow! Damn!"
"Ha! I knew that funny squiggly writing would work!"
"But, Lord Koenma, you said that--"
"Quiet! Can't you see I'm trying to make a superior impression?"
In the meantime, Sairen cradled her burned hand. With a sneer, she studied the sheath over the sword more closely. 'What?!' Etched on were a few tiny, very rare symbols, no more than three or four different ones, all glowing. Above it was the kanji symbol for "Air".
Quietly, she asked, "Where the hell did you find that spell?"
"Amazed? I thought you'd be," came the matter-of-fact reply from Koenma, "though if it wasn't for Botan, I probably wouldn't have been able to see your face when you ran into the extra security."
"Hmph."
From outside, behind the door, Botan had been peeping in to see what would happen. Upon hearing her name, she jumped, jerking back her head and pressing herself against the wall. "Why does he have to talk so much?" she whispered.
"One could say the same."
"YIKES!" Botan yelped, jumping again (this time, she rose two feet off the floor as opposed to one). 'I forgot how fast she was!'
"I don't know what you said, hon, but--"
"Aw, man, I forgot how fast she was! Don't just stand there, get her!!!" an annoyed Koenma ordered from inside.
The five other demons--quite large, one might add--visibly blanched.
"You want us to...physically restrain her?"
"Well, duh!"
This statement met with even more discomfort. Sairen just laughed. "Sorry, Koenma, but some people learn after the FIRST time they touch a hot stove!"
Botan stepped in. "I know I may regret this later, but this mission is way too serious for holding back. Sairen, go with Lord Koenma."
"Say WHAT?!" both parties mentioned were shocked at the sudden change in events.
"For me, Sairen. Please." Turning to Koenma, she added, "And you! Don't do anything to make her say otherwise! You and I both know how much we need her!"
"Botan, what in the nine hells have you been going on about for the past ten or so minutes?" a curious, yet irked all the same, Sairen demanded.
Koenma recovered as well, "Come with me and you'll find out soon enough."
With another sigh, she allowed herself to be lead by one of the most irritating people in the multi-dimentional universe. When she walked by, Koenma's, er, "escorts", leapt back out of the way; they cowered even more when she stopped to stare at them.
Hearing some noise, Koenma stopped, too. "Now what are you up to?"
"Nothing; I was just about to ask them that question. Really, you need better trained guards or whatever. They're not supposed to cower at a regular visitor."
"Sairen: as far as I can tell, you are NOT regular!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The walk to Koenma's (dad's) office was uneventful, which was just fine with the majority of the party. However, that began to change as soon as the office door came into view.
Sairen, for some inexplicable reason, stopped dead in her tracks. She sniffed the air. One of the demon "escorts"--all of which were keeping a good three feet between themselves and the new arrival--began to look a little nervous around the same time Botan's face began twitching.
Koenma, as usual, misinterpreted everything. "Ok. Which one of you cut the cheese?"
"No, Koenma, that is not what I'm smelling," Sairen responded with a slight tremor in her voice. "But if you must know, it was the blue demon with the glasses who's trying to act like nothing happened."
"EWW! Doorknob!" the other four shouted, immediately clearing the area. Botan and Koenma, who then had began to smell something themselves, wrinkled their noses and moved to the side. "You couldn't have given us a warning?" the latter complained, holding his nose.
"Who is wearing cologne?"
"Um, Sairen, I don't think that's what we're smelling."
"Who is wearing cologne?" she repeated, this time a bit louder.
When no one answered, Sairen shifted her gaze to an even more nervous Botan. After a few seconds, she broke the silence. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"You know what I'm going to ask, so you might as well save time and just spill."
Still fidgety, Botan began, "Um, Lord Koenma was seeing two other people before we ran into you..."
"...And?..."
"...and, they're still here." Then, out of nowhere, Botan straightened up and snapped back, "Oh, for heaven's sake, Sairen, can't you two just put THAT behind you for at least this occasion? because you can just not talk to each other for the rest of your lives, for all I care, though I'd personally like to see you back together!" she paused. "*Whew*, there! I said it!"
The door opened. "Yes, you did," an amused Kurama observed. "Now if you can just give HIM that lecture, then we should be fine for a while, anyway."
"Highly unlikely, given THAT woman's fickle humor," a second voice explained, further inside the room.
"What's that, Smurf Man?"
Koenma, despite his better judgment, decided to step in. "Now, now, you two--"
"Oh, stay out of it!" was the response from both sides. Koenma, with a reasonable fear for his health, decided to do just that. For now, anyway, he just crossed his arms and pouted. "Hmph!"
Sairen happened to glance at Botan, who was trying very hard not to hurt someone herself. "What?! He started it, with that domineering-ass attitude of his--"
"That 'domineering-ass attitude' of his may have saved yours in the long run!" Botan shouted a little louder than necessary.
"What are you talking about?"
"Save your breath, Botan," the owner of the second voice came closer, "it's not like she'd appreciate what I was trying to do now if she didn't at the time."
"Hiei, I'm sure you can at least act like temporary allies if nothing more," Kurama tried reasoning with his friend. Personally, though, he was starting to agree with Botan's last statement, especially since Hiei's been a bit more sulky as of late...
"I absolutely refuse to work with HER/HIM!" they both yelled.
"Good. You agree on something. It's a start."
Noticing the slight twitch of Kurama's eye made Sairen back up a little. Straight into Botan. "And where do you think you're going?"
Botan had used her 'This Is Going to Hut You More Than It Will Me' tone. Sairen wasn't the only one who noticed it.
"Did she just use her 'This Is Going to Hurt You More Than It Will Me' tone?" Hiei asked.
Botan and Kurama looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. Before either of the two could do anything about it, Sairen and Hiei were grabbed by their respective 'supposed' friends and practically thrown together.
"What the hell?!"
"Since when did YOU come with Kung-Fu grip?"
"We're not letting either of you move until you call a truce," Botan declared.
"And if we don't?" Hiei challenged. Behind him, Kurama uncharacteristically cracked his knuckles. "You wouldn't...!"
"You of all people should know how impatient I am with fools, Hiei."
"He's right," Botan agreed, "the situation is too grave for you two to spend the time arguing. This can't be done without anyone."
Sairen's turn: "You know, Botan, you never DID tell me why the hell you ratted me out back there."
"Serves you right, Sairen."
"Shut up, Hiei."
Koenma cleared his throat. "**Ahem**. I will explain everything over again, though with more detail this time. Bot--er, one of you," he pointed to the group of demons in the background, "go contact Yurameshi and Kuwabara. We might as well bring everyone together." 'Mainly to help keep those two from tearing each other apart' he silently added. Glancing over at the frosty glares Sairen and Hiei were batting back and forth, Koenma had to shudder at the sheer amount of damage that could be done if they DID decide to have at it.
Speaking of scary things, Sairen was...smiling?!? "It's that serious, eh? Well, now..."
' 'wonder who's going to die first?' Hiei wondered with a straight face.
"...Let's...make...a little wager, shall we?"
Koenma faltered. "Um, well...that is...i don't know, Sairen--"
Hiei couldn't keep quiet. "Careful, Koenma, this may literally cost you an arm and a leg!"
"And i just may rip yours off and beat you with it--"
"I'd have to agree with Hiei on this one," Kurama stated. "I may not know you very well personally, Sairen, but I've heard a lot about you."
"If you hadn't, I'd be surprised." She wasn't too happy about the 'lore and legend' about her and her other friends, but she supposed they all deserved it. 'I guess that's what I get for being so headstrong and quick-tempered.' "Anyway, I wasn't thinking anything drastic. But all the same, I'd like my s**t back."
Koenma lost around five years off his life span; Koenma attempted to keep his own poker face despite the slight loss of color (Botan wasn't too better off); Hiei, well, he wasn't surprised in the least. 'Figures she'd pull something like that.'
Koenma recovered with a shake of the head. "I don't think i can do that, Sairen--"
"What exactly are you afraid of, Koenma? I COULD have asked for 'You-know-Who's' toys as well, but I think it's best to leave those here. And it's not like I haven't been behaving lately."
"She's even managed to stay out of your Incident files for six months," Hiei put in.
"Yeah. Hey!"
"You must admit, Lord Koenma, we may need a few of her gadgets for this mission," Botan reasoned.
"Yes. And some may even work for the others as well." One could practically see the hamster running on the wheel in Koenma's head, powering the light bulb above it. "I can assume you won't cause any problems--"
"I thought that was why you WANTED my assistance?"
'It's what she does best.' A barely suppressed laugh from Hiei earned him a tug on the hair from Kurama. Thinking better of turning around and smacking him, he simply growled his annoyance.
"Tell you what: You help us out, and I'll let you keep SOME OF what's stored away," Jr. bargained.
"Given the fact that those items belong to ME and were not obtained with my permission--" Sairen began.
"More the reason I'm not risking MY backside by letting you have them back! But, if everything works out, I'm sure you'll gain a few points for government service, if you know what I mean."
Botan was shocked. "Sir, you don't mean...?"
He nodded. "Sairen, I'm sure that I could more-or-less forget about your less serious offenses ONLY if," Koenma held up a finger, "we have your full cooperation."
"And you control your temper," Kurama came out of nowhere, blind-siding everyone, Sairen included. "The last thing we need is an unstable Air elemental."
"Air-slash-Fire elemental," corrected Hiei.
Sairen thought for a moment or two. Finally, she spoke, "I'm not sure what's going on, but it feels as if something's off and/or about to go down. Hard. So don't think I'm doing you any favors, Koenma."
Botan glomped her friend. "Yes! I knew I could count on you, Sairen!"
"Just as well," Koenma answered the other's semi-quasi acceptance, "if we can pull this off, it'll clear up around a third of my file space." Spying the dubious look on her face, he added, "You have no idea how large your rap sheet is, do you?"
She ignored that particular shot. "You said 'if'. What happens 'if' our mission's a flop?"
Kurama nudged his friend, who also happened to notice her choice of "our" as opposed to "your". His eyes said as much, assuming one could read them.
"Simply put: if we fail," Koenma paused for effect. "We're all screwed."
##########################################################################
Explanations are forthcoming in the next chapters, so don't hurt yourselves too badly wondering what's happening ^_~ . Lemme know how this one's doing so far!