~High Voltage~
. . .
Chapter 9: Hatred And Preparation
. . .


The gentle morning rays of sunlight were what woke Botan the next morning. Her eyes opened, and she blinked the sleep from them, recalling the events of the night before. The demon, Khewew Hem-teh, had been brought back from the dead. They had all headed back to their hotel rooms minutes after that revelation so that she could contact Koenma; however, Koenma had appeared before them sooner than they could reach the hotel. He had a few things to inform them. Apparently they had two weeks before the demon could be fully resurrected, which meant two weeks to prepare for battle.

Botan sat up, pushing back the covers and looking around the room. The first thing she noticed was the empty bed beside hers. In fact, she seemed to be the only one in the room at the moment. She really hoped that wherever Teilen had gone off to, she was planning on coming back. The night before, Botan had tried and failed to pursuade the lightning demon to sleep in the other bed. Teilen firmly stated that she had no use for such things, and sure enough, the bed looked as though it hadn't been touched. Which left Botan wondering where Teilen had slept, or if she had slept at all.

. . .



The activity going on by the pyramid was not as visible during the day. The further distance also made surveillance all the more difficult, but the red of the lightning-like energy could still be made out quite easily. It was crackling directly above the pyramid and considerably larger than the night before.

Teilen watched it from her place on the roof of the hotel. She hadn't slept much; maybe three hours at the most, but she never got very much sleep anyhow. The carpeting of the hotel room had just been too comfortable for her liking--it was nothing like the hard ground that she was used to sleeping on.

She watched the sun as it continued to rise higher in the sky. Guessing it was around seven o'clock, Teilen realized that everyone else would be waking up soon (Hiei and Kurama were probably already awake, but she wasn't concerned with them). They would wonder where she had gone off to. There was no doubt in her mind that Botan, who seemed to be the blabber-mouth of the group, would tell the others that she was missing.

Teilen hated being the center of attention.

She decided to go back to the room before they formed a search party.

. . .



Hiei had been the first one up because he hadn't slept at all that night. He had sat on the windowsill of the guys' room for a few hours, watching Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama as they all fell asleep. When he was sure they were all sleeping, he had snuck out the window and left the hotel.

He hadn't been back since, and now it was close to seven o'clock. Hiei had gone over to the pyramid to inspect the scene for himself. It was what he thought everyone else should have done in the first place, though he had never said anything to them. However, once there, he found that there had been nothing more of interest to discover anyway. The crackling red lightning-like energy had been over the pyramid, and the flashing colors seemed to be coming from what appeared to be a rip in the sky. Finding only this, Hiei had turned back, returning to the city. He hadn't gone back to the hotel, though. Instead, he had perched on top of a telephone pole, high up in the air where no human would see him even if there were any awake at this hour.

It was there that he noticed Teilen up on the hotel roof across the street. Hiei didn't know exactly why he didn't like her. He knew that he hated her attitude, and found it rather annoying. She could be quite arrogant at times, which he also couldn't stand. Besides, she despised him for her own reasons. Hiei wasn't about to be receptive towards somebody who hated his guts.

He watched her turn away and head back down the stairs, probably going back to the hotel room. He thought that he should head back soon as well. Since Khewew Hem-teh would not arrive for another two weeks, Hiei figured he would spend that time training by himself and with Kurama, so the sooner they started, the better.

. . .



Teilen opened the door to the room she and Botan shared.

"There you are," Botan said cheerfully. She had some clothes in her arms and was on her way to the bathroom. "I was just about to hop into the shower."

Teilen tried not to care, but she was curious. Finally she asked, "What's a 'show-wer'?"

"Oh, it's fantastic!" Botan answered. "It's what humans use to clean themselves. You ought to try it sometime, Teilen."

"Huh," she grunted in reply. What ever happened to a simple bath in a nearby pond?

Botan shrugged and went into the bathroom, leaving Teilen by herself. She sat down on the edge of the nearest bed, with absolutely nothing to do. She knew that she had to start training for the arrival of Khewew Hem-teh as soon as possible, but right now she just couldn't focus on that. There were too many distractions in the room for her to ignore. Though she cared little for humans, she was very intrigued by their strange inventions. Like this 'shower' that Botan spoke of. Teilen wondered how it worked. She listened to the sound of running water that was coming from the bathroom and wanted to know what it was like.

Curiosity getting the best of her yet again, she eventually rose from the bed and walked over to the door separating the guys' room from hers. After hesitating for a moment, she twisted the knob and pushed it open.

Teilen entered the room as Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara looked up at her.

"Whoa, are you actually gonna talk to us?" Yusuke wondered.

"I need to use your 'show-wer'." She told them, ignoring his comment.

"Go ahead, nobody's in there," he replied with a shrug.

She gave him a slight nod and went into their bathroom, closing the door behind her. And now to figure out how to work this human device. She guessed that one was supposed to stand in the rectangular white tub, and that knob must make the water come out. Teilen quickly undressed and stepped into the tub, pulling the curtain shut. She pulled on the knob, and almost instantly water began to pour onto her head. At first she was shocked to feel it so quickly. The water was very cold, but she didn't mind. It was no warmer than what she was used to.

Teilen rinsed herself off; then she became curious and used the soap to clean her skin. Once finished with that, she noticed a small bottle labeled 'Shampoo' on the corner of the bathtub. Picking it up and reading the back of it, she realized that humans used this on their hair. She unscrewed the cap and sniffed. Strange. It smelled of flowers. She turned it upside down and poured some onto the palm of her hand. Setting the small bottle back where she had found it, Teilen rubbed the soapy substance into her hair, and then rinsed it out like the instructions on the back of the bottle had said. She let the cold water rain onto her for a minute longer before she pushed the knob backwards, shutting the water off, and pulled back the curtains.

. . .



Hiei came into the room in search of Kurama. He wanted to start training with him right away, and had come to tell him that. But the only one in the room had been the fool, Kuwabara.

"If you're looking for the other two, they left a few minutes ago," Kuwabara informed him.

Hiei just said, "Hn," and turned to the bathroom, for nature was calling him. The door was cracked open, giving him reason to believe that there wasn't anybody inside. So, one can certainly imagine his surprise when he pushed the door open and discovered Teilen standing in the tub, in the buff. Startled and a little embarrassed, Hiei averted his gaze, but not before she saw him standing in the doorway.

"BASTARD!"

Hundreds of lightning bolts went flying at him, as well as a long string of curses in another language, and Hiei just barely managed to dodge them all. He leaped out of the room and slammed the door behind him, looking a bit flustered. Kuwabara was lying on the bed, laughing so hard he was clutching his sides. Hiei glared at him, not knowing what else to do. Then he quickly left the room, deciding to find Kurama and Yusuke.

Seconds later, the bathroom door swung open and Teilen, now fully dressed, stormed out. She glared at Kuwabara, who was still in hysterics on the bed. "Where did he go?" She demanded.

Kuwabara managed to choke out, "I dunno," through all his laughter. Teilen scowled at him, and then turned to leave the room. She would make Hiei pay for that! Nobody walked in on her and got away with it!

. . .



That evening, Yusuke and Kurama returned to the hotel along with Hiei after a long, hard day of training. Yusuke and Kurama had gone out to the desert to find a spot suitable for sparring, and that's where Hiei had found them a little while later. Now they were all exhausted and sweaty and in desperate need of a good shower.

"I call first shower!" Yusuke called as they entered their room. Kuwabara was doing some reading on the chair in the corner of the room.

"Hey, guys!" He looked up at them when they re-entered the room. "Did you know that the Egyptians liked cats? It's true, they practically worshipped them! Cool, huh?" He watched Yusuke grab some clothes from his suitcase and disappear into the bathroom, while Kurama took a seat on one of the beds and Hiei stood by the window.

"Yes," Kurama nodded. "You know, since Teilen knows so much about Egypt, you should ask her about it," he said, almost slyly.

"Great idea." Kuwabara jumped out of the chair and went into the next room.

"Hn. Are you trying to get the fool killed, Kurama?" Hiei asked him.

"Not at all, Hiei," he replied. "A bit of friendly conversation never hurt anyone. It may do her some good to talk a little more."

. . .



Teilen had given in to all of Botan's nagging and was lying on her back on one of the double beds. Maybe now that blue-haired freak would leave her alone. She had to admit, though, the bed was quite comfortable. At the moment, Botan was not in the room. She'd gone down to get some ice and would return in a few minutes. Teilen didn't mind the silence at all. She was enjoying this time to herself—that is, until she was rudely interrupted by the door opening.

She turned her head to view the intruder. It was the tall red-head, the one who was always yelling at the Spirit Detective. Teilen regarded him as just another irritating human. He saw her lying on the bed and opened his mouth to speak.

"Let me guess. You want to know about cats."

His face fell. "How did you know?"

"The walls aren't soundproof." She scowled at him as she sat up on the bed. "Well, what do you want to know, and make it quick." She made a mental note to kill Kurama for this later—she hated being put on the spot.

"Well how come they loved cats so much?"

"Egypt's original use of cats was to keep the royal granaries of Egypt vermin free," she reluctantly explained. "The cat's job itself was not so simple; the vermin bred rapidly and ate excessively well in the masses of grain. The Pharaoh realized that he needed all the cats he could get, and being a king-god himself he made the cats demigods."

"Cool," Kuwabara grinned. "So if they were gods, what happened when one died?"

She gave him a look of annoyance, but answered the question anyway. "Since cats were not only demigods but also Pharaoh property, it was a felony to kill or injure one, even by accident. The consequence sometimes resulted in death. If a cat died in the normal course of events, the body of the cat was was brought to an embalmer to be mummified."

"Neat! I should have brought Eikichi..."

Teilen stood up. "Are you finished with your questions?"

"Sure," he nodded. "Thanks."

"Huh." She didn't seem to hear him. "Tell me, where exactly is Hiei?"

"What?" Kuwabara was surprised that she wanted to know anything concerning Hiei considering what he had accidentally done earlier that day. "Well, I think he was next in line for a shower or something. Kurama convinced him--"

"Perfect," she said, not caring that she had cut him off. She opened the door separating the two rooms and marched inside.

"Teilen." Kurama looked up, and Yusuke did as well from where he was trying to stuff his dirty clothes into a plastic bag that was full. She could hear the shower running in the next room, and smirked in satisfaction. She turned and made a beeline for the bathroom door.

"Hey, wait a sec, Hiei's—" Yusuke began, but she didn't appear to care so he just decided to sit back and watch the show.

Teilen was able to open the door and sneak inside without making a sound, using the same expert tactics she'd used as the Shadow. She saw the fire demon's shadow behind the white shower curtain, and steam was rising above him. So he'd figured out how to use the hot water. Grinning rather wickedly at the prospect of what she was about to do, Teilen slunk closer to the shower area until she was within arm's reach of the curtain. Then, in one quick motion, her right arm shot forward and ripped the said curtain clean off, exposing a completely au naturel and absolutely thunderstruck Hiei.

The look on his face was positively priceless. At first he didn't seem to know just what to do. He stared at her for the first few seconds, watching her casually fling the curtain over her shoulder, before the anger set in. Words came fairly easily after that:

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

She looked him up and down real quick, smirked at him and said, "Now we're even." Then she turned and left the room, slamming the door once she was out. She went back to her own room, passing Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara on the way (all of them were laughing). Once back in her room, she shut the door and jumped back onto the bed. She was still angry with him for walking in on her, but now she felt a lot better.

Botan still wasn't back from her ice-run. Teilen wondered what had happened to her, but shrugged it off a second later, just as a certain furious fire demon burst into the room, fully clothed. He saw her lying on the bed, and if looks could kill, Teilen would have died and gone to Hell right on the spot.

"You think this is over?" He snapped at her. "I should kill you for that!"

"I should have killed you for what you did earlier!" She shot back, not moving from her spot. She continued to lie on the bed as if he weren't a threat to her at all.

"I didn't know you were in there!"

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Well, there was nothing worth seeing anyhow!"

Teilen fought the urge to snap every single bone in his body in half right then and there. It was hard. "I could say the same for you, tiny! Sesep pef!"

He scowled at her. "You're no better than those human fools."

Teilen slid off the bed and stood up. "You watch what you say," she sneered at him.

He took a step forward so that the two were face to face, and found that he was just the slightest bit taller than she. "I'd like to see you try and stop me."

"Why don't you get the hell out of my face, Khewew Jeret!"

"What does that mean?" He growled.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She cocked an eyebrow and glared at him.

"You are such an insolent, obnoxious bitch!"

"Tew se-mer me pe pehawey!" She shouted back at him. Hiei had no idea what it meant, but he certainly recognized an insult when he heard one.

"Maybe we could continue this fight outside," he suggested bitterly.

"Sounds good to me, but prepare to be beaten," she replied in just as nasty a tone. "Wi ne-sep se-sew."

"Hn. I seem to recall you saying something like that the last time we fought."

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

Suddenly the door flew open and two bodies wedged themselves between the opposing demons. "Hey, hey, hey!" Yusuke was yelling. "Knock it off, you two!"

"This is not the time for a dispute," Kurama reminded them.

"That's right. If you're that pissed at each other, then why don't you both go back and train for a while?"

"Fine." Teilen turned and left the room, slamming the door on her way out; so hard, in fact, that the door fell off its hinges seconds afterwards.

"Ouch," Yusuke commented. He looked at Hiei. "What'd you do to get her so pissed off?"

"Hn." Hiei went back into the guys' room without another word.

. . .



Kurama managed to dodge her furious punches and kicks, and, flipping to the side, tried to get a good hit in.

Teilen saw it coming and leapt backwards. She smirked up at him. "I hope you're not going easy on me because I'm a woman, Kurama. Because if you are, I will be forced to kill you."

Kurama just took this comment with good humor. "Of course not," he replied. It had been a few days since the 'shower incident' and since Hiei was out training with Yusuke, Kurama decided to convince Teilen to train with him. She had reluctantly agreed, telling him he'd better not show her mercy because she was female, and they had found a spot somewhere out in the desert; far away from any humans. They had been at it for hours now, and neither was quite ready to quit. They both knew that a huge battle was only days away, and that being prepared for it was very crucial.

Teilen jumped at Kurama, making her Spirit Pole appear in her hand and swinging it at him in a downward motion. Kurama instantly countered this maneuver by whipping out his Rose Whip, wrapping it around the Spirit Pole, and throwing it—with Teilen attatched—off to the side. Teilen hit the ground and quickly rolled to her feet.

"Hm, well you're much better than I thought," she said, her tone indicating that she knew full well what Kurama was really capable of and was just teasing him. She ran at him and began to swing the pole this way and that, trying to get a hit in any way she could, but Kurama was able to block each attempt. Teilen flipped over his head and finally connected the Spirit Pole with his lower back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He was quick to get up, though, lashing his Rose Whip in her direction. She caught it with her Spirit Pole, pivoted 180 degrees so that her back was to him, and heaved forward. Kurama was sent flying over her head, but recovered as he righted himself in mid-air and landed on his feet.

"Decent move," he remarked. He was beginning to feel the effects of those long hours of training, and he knew that she was also but refused to admit it. His gaze went up to the sky, which was starting to darken. The first stars were already out, and the full moon was a glowing white orb in the blue empyrean.

"Earth to Kurama, we're training here," Teilen impatiently reminded him.

"Yes, well I think we've done enough for today," he said, turning his attention back to her. "You should get some rest, and we'll continue tomorrow."

"Uh-huh," she remarked, but made the Spirit Pole disappear anyway. "What do you mean that I should get some rest? I'm fine."

Kurama shrugged slightly. "I've noticed that you have not been sleeping much."

She gave him a weird look. "You've been spying on me?"

"No, of course not. My hearing just happens to be very acute, and I am able to hear you leaving the room late at night." Kurama stared at her for a few seconds, as if pondering something. Finally, he asked, "Tell me, why is it that you dislike Hiei so much?"

Teilen snorted. "What's to like?"

"I wish you would give him another chance."

This surprised her. "Another chance? Kurama, are you blind? This feeling of loathing is not the least bit one-sided."

"I'm only saying that if you were friendlier towards him, he would respond in a more positive manner," Kurama explained.

"And I'm saying 'hell no' Kurama!" She snapped back. "Why don't we just go back to the hotel?" She began to walk in the direction of the aforementioned hotel, not caring if he followed or not, when he said something that made her stop in her tracks:

"The two of you are more alike than you know."

Teilen scowled, muttered a few not-very-nice words under her breath, and stalked off, shaking her head. "What do you know?"

. . .



Translations:

Sesep pef -- "Take that"

Khewew Jeret -- "Evil Eye"

Tew se-mer me pe pehawey -- Closest I could get to "You pain in the ass!"

Wi ne-sep se-sew -- "I never lose"

AN: Aw, poor Hiei! I was so mean to him in this chapter! *cries* So okay, that was kind of a long chapter. Well, longer than usual, I think. It's because I decided to combine two chapters, which is probably for the best. People have been telling me that I don't make chapters long enough, so I'm going to try to make them longer. The thing is, though, I just assumed that people were like me and didn't care to read long, long chapters. I also like to update as soon as possible, which is another reason the chapters are usually short. But if longer chapters are what the people want, then longer chapters are what they'll get, although the updates won't be as frequent. So that's my 2 cents, or whatever. Questions, comments, suggestions, anything, please review!

Next Chapter: About Teilen