Sukina was reading when she felt someone's eyes on her. Turning, she saw no one, but she was a little puzzled when her eyes turned to the tall, cypress tree outside her classroom. There was no way anyone could have been hiding there. The tree didn't have much hiding space.
"Sukina! Read to us your translation of chapter five!" The teacher brought her attention sharply back to the present.
"Hai!" Sukina said, standing up and reading her translation.
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He watched her with angry eyes. Years ago, when she was no more than a foetus her mother had defied him. She'd later paid the price of course, but it took him a good thirteen years to track her down. To his dismay, he found that she was more than his match and he had retired to building up an army to catch her. That plan was foiled when her sister sought her out and together they made an invincible partnership.
Five years later, he had held out hope when the Gates of Hell were about to be opened. It was not his fault of course. He could not engineer something like that, but it would have given him the Chosen Ones. That was foiled when the Rulers of Makai, particularly Mukuro, came to her rescue. They would all pay, but now… Now he had an opportunity like never before. She was alone, she was defenceless and she had no memory of what had happened before. One of his men had pointed out that since she did not remember anything, she would be useless to them anyway.
The man had died quite painfully. He knew something the other didn't. If you killed her, the spirit would come and either avenge her or heal her body, either for her own soul or for the girl's, it didn't matter. He would accomplish several things; getting hold of an Heir, getting hold of the Crystal Rose, and the Seals to the Gates of Hell would weaken. All in all, he could not fail.
He smiled.
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When the exam was over, Karen left the classroom and headed towards the computer labs, where she could surf the Internet and get some last minute printouts. Just as she reached the computer lab door, she bumped into two familiar faces. One was a man, the other a boy, both heads taller than she was. "Hey CK," she greeted the boy. She gave the other a curt nod.
"Have you seen Emma or any of the other student ambassadors?" he asked her after returning her greeting. She shook her head.
"Only Jean, and she left about half an hour ago," she replied.
"Thanks. Shall we move on, Minami-san?" CK asked, when Karen, who had just stepped foot into the lab, whirled and stared at him.
"Minami? As in Minami from Yuyu Hakusho?" she said. CK grinned.
"She's a big fan of this anime character. His name happens to be Syuichi Minami, like yours," CK explained unnecessarily to Kurama, who knew it all, of course.
"I guessed that. I can't seem to escape the guy. The name was bad enough, but the red hair…" he smiled, knowing that the other two would have been able to imagine the rest. Karen was a fanfic author after all, and she was quite familiar with the phenomenon known as the "Rabid Fangirl Syndrome." She had fallen victim to it once or twice. *
"Can I have your autograph?" she asked, looking appealingly at him. Kurama grinned and obliged her, noting that she was prepared with an autograph book.
"It was for Phil. I wanted him to sign it for me," she explained, referring to a last-year student.
When it was done, Kurama knew where she lived, what time she planned to leave, and most importantly, confirmation. She was Naoko, but this was a different Naoko. She retained no memory of what happened in Japan, and most likely, her training as well. Before, she had this air of confidence that was sharpened by her own martial abilities, but now it was an air of confidence of simply being able to look after herself.
He should tell the rest of the Reikai Tantei. What was going on?
*In case you haven't guessed, Karen is a Kurama fangirl.
Muse a.k.a Karen: So are you!
Me: Of course! Kurama… *drools for about two hours*
Ja ne! Leave a nice review for me, okay? Well, if you're going to flame me, please do it politely. Arigato! J