*continues to dodge thrown items*
Okay!! I'm updating!! I promise I'll behave now and no more evil cliffies!!
*cry*
Cliffies are so fun!!! Well, it may depend on where one chooses to put the cliffy.
-x-
Chapter Four: Reunion of Comrades
"Yes. You saw the scars on my legs, remember?"
He nodded. "I do."
"That's how I got the majority of them."
"And the rest?"
"A bike race. I was fourteen and thrown off my bike. I landed in a pile of gravel and glass. They were picking rubble out of my flesh for nearly two hours. Tiny pieces, bigger pieces, all sizes. I had to have a bit of PT in order to get back on my feet, so to speak."
He nodded. "Makes sense." Then he was silent. "Arelia's here."
Mychela stood up, ignoring her exhaustion.
"Yea!!"
-x-
They all gathered around the table for dinner. Arelia was beside Hiei and Mychela beside Kurama.
They were already swapping promises of death.
"Are you sure that the two of you are friends?" Kurama asked Mychela.
"Yeah. We're friends. Promsies of death are our way of saying 'Love you too.'"
He sighed. "Sounds like Hiei and Kuwabara."
"Only Hiei means it. We don't."
He nodded.
"I heard that, Mychela," Hiei informed.
"I meant for you to, youkai."
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Mychela looked confused as Hiei stood. "No. Aren't you?"
"No. You are."
"Yes, I am."
"No. You aren't."
"I knew I wasn't." She turned to Kurama. "Reverse psychology works miracles."
Hiei fumed as Kurama, Genkai, and the teenaged Koenma laughed. Yuusuke was once again stuffing his face.
"Just for that, Mychela, you're going to-"
"Uh.. Hiei, Yukina told you what would happen if you hurt another one of your training partners," she reminded. "It didn't sound too pleasant, either."
He glared at her.
Arelia, Mychela noted with more than a little amusement, had yet to take her eyes off of the older version of Koenma. Curious, Mychela gently pryed into Arelia's mind.
Wow! For a toddler, he's kinda cute. Well, he's not a toddler exactly. More like a teenager sometimes stuck in a toddler's body. Wonder why he's looking at Mychela. Not like she's a bombshell or anything.
Mychela tore out of her 'friend's' thoughts with a glare.
"What's wrong, Mychela? Wouldn't have been using that thought technique I taught you today, now would you?" Kurama queried with a knowing glance.
"Of course not, Kurama-kun. One's thoughts should be private," she said pointedly, eyes darkening in remembered rage.
His face turned red. "Right. They should. Which is why I was concerned about your prying into someone else's mind."
She gave him a disbelieving look and turned back to her meal.
He didn't believe her for a second. If she hadn't been in Arelia's mind, he would give her a million dollars and dance like a fool with bells on in the middle of the Dark Tournament.
Which he wouldn't have to do, because he always knew when he was being lied to.
And she was lying big time.
-x-
She was walking in the light of the full moon, somehow satisfied with the chaos around her. That chaos meant that no one was hurt. No one was attacking the temple.
Everything was alright.
She heard a crack! behind her and stopped. She had known that someone was following her, but didn't know who or why. Which was why she had taken a path that took her far away from the temple and near a cliff that overlooked the city.
"Who's there?" she called.
No answer.
And she wasn't armed.
Kuso! I would choose now to be unarmed. Only thing I've got right now is my voice and I doubt that Kurama would hear me all the way out here!
"Mychela, are you alright? You left right after dinner and everyone's worried about you."
She glared at Kurama as she put two and two together. He had been following her.
"Yes, I am fine. You scared me, following like that."
"It was obvious that you wanted time alone. Genkai told me to follow, though, so I did. However, I did so at a discreet distance."
She was grateful. Her thoughts were too tempestuous right now for anyone to dare go in, so she felt safe.
"What are you thinking?" he queried.
"Too much. Mainly mischief, though," she replied, shivering in the slightly cool air.
He came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sighed happily and relaxed against him.
"Kurama?"
"Hai?" he said.
"Have you ever fallen in love?" she asked, voice a mere whisper in the wind.
"No."
'Do you love anyone in this world?"
"My human mother, Shiori, and my step-brother, Shuuichi. I'm… fond… of my step-father, but I wouldn't call it love."
"Why do you love your mother? I can't really stand mine." Her voice was thoughtful.
"I think Shiori knew that I wasn't really her son. She loved me nonetheless, though. When I had the human illness, the chicken pox, she fed me soup and held a 'Congratulations!' party when I was better."
She smiled. "Your mother sounds so cool. When I had chicken pox, on the week of my birthday, my mom still went to work. I wasn't really hurt, though. More disappointed."
"Would you like to meet Shiori?"
She turned around in his embrace and looked at him before nodding. "That would be awesome."
He arms tightened around her and he said, "We'll go tomorrow, then. I'm sure you could do with seeing something besides Genkai's temple for a while."
She nodded again. "I would appreciate it. Tokyo is supposed to be beautiful, but it's kinda saddening that I haven't seen it. And when I meet your mother, I promise I won't let anything slip, Shuuichi."
He had absolute faith in her. "I know," he told her, kissing her cheek.
Their eyes met, her's storm-dark and his green like new spring leaves.
"You have… glorious eyes," she breathed.
"You have a… magnificent mouth," he returned. "A magnificent mouth that I have to taste."
Their lips met and she was too stunned to resist his silent plea.
She gave a sexy little sigh as her mouth opened to him. He took the kiss as deep as he could without asking for what he had no right to.
When they broke apart, her head buried itself in his neck, her breath feathering against his skin.
And all was right with the world.
-x-
Genkai's Temple-Morning:
Kurama went to speak with Hiei and Yuusuke.
"Well?"
"Still no sign. Those girls are our only hope right now."
They all looked over at the two girls who were sitting on the porch, discussing some guy named 'Tres' and the latest biker chick clothes from Hot Topic.
"Hn. We're doomed."
"Mychela's strong, especially with her punches," Kurama said, ignoring Hiei. "She punched me yesterday and actually left a bruise."
"Arelia was in the middle of a fight when we found her. She's damned good, just like Mychela promised. Calm, cool under pressure, and fast as hell," Yuusuke said, shaking his head.
"Weapon?"
"Staff."
Hiei tossed him the piece of wood and he caught it without second thought. "Oak quarterstaff, heavy. Nice desi-"
He broke off when his youkai half sensed something emitting from the staff. A strange for of youki/reiki that wasn't what they had encountered with Sensui.
"Kurama? Are you alright?"
"Yes. Just return this too her immediately. Handle it as little as possible. I'm about to leave with Mychela."
Yuusuke wriggled his eyebrows.
Kurama bashed him on the head. "No, you hentai. Not like that."
Suddenly, there was a yell.
-x-
"So, where's your big stick?"
"Hiei has it. Isn't it so cool that they're real?"
Mychela yelped as Arelia yanked out a tangle.
"That's it! You are not brushing my hair again! You enjoy the tangles too much!"
Arelia huffed. "You're the one who tangles it!"
"You're the one making me go bald!"
-x-
Kurama stood in the doorway, watching this slightly amusing sight. Arelia and Mychela were about thirty seconds from a cat-fight.
"At least I can make more than mac-and-cheese!"
"Spaghetti! Wow!"
"My spaghetti's good!"
"If you like rubbery noodles and greasy sauce!"
"Yeah?" Mychela challenged.
"Yeah!"
Mychela leapt at Arelia.
He turned his back on the tussle, knowing that Mychela wouldn't really want him to intervene.
Five minutes passed before his will failed him.
He sighed and picked them up by the back of their shirts. "Girls, care to explain?" he queried, looking at them and assessing the damage.
Mychela had a cut running from below her left eye to her chin, a knot behind her ear, and a bruising right jaw.
Arelia, however, was relatively unharmed. A black eye, various bruises, and a knot at the base of her skull.
"It's nothing, Kurama," Mychela growled. "A disagreement."
"Fine. Mychela, come with me. We're going to be late. Arelia, Yukina is in the dining area. Go there. Now."
Mychela followed him, muttering things about how Arelia would die painfully. How she might even befriend Hiei just to have Arelia killed.
"That wouldn't be wise, Mychela. That wouldn't be wise at all."
"Shut up, kitsune."
Okay, she is pissed. Not good for me because I will now be her target. Kuso!
He led her to the forest, to a clearing that he frequented when he wasn't taking care of everyone else's problems. "What happened?" he asked as she slid down a tree.
"Nothing. A disagreement."
"Mychela, please tell me," he pleaded, using that tone she couldn't resist.
"We pissed each other off with childish insults and idiocy."
He knelt in front of her and began to tend to the cut.
"Sorry you had to break it up."
He shook his head. "It's alright. I break up Hiei and Kuwabara pretty often."
She gave him a half-smile, wincing as the smile pulled at her wound.
He finished mending the damage, but didn't release her. Instead, he pulled her close and leaned against the tree.
"Ah… Kurama?"
"Yes?"
"We're going to be late for your mom's."
He jumped up. "You're right. Hold on!"
-x-
"Okasan! Tadaima!" he yelled.
"Okaerinasai, Shuuichi," Shiori greeted.
"Okasan, please meet Mychela Averys, a friend of mine," Kurama introduced.
She bowed. "Minamoto-san, I am very pleased to finally meet you. Shuuichi-chan speaks of you often."
Shiori laughed lightly. "I can only imagine what he says."
"It is all good, I assure you. He speaks most fondly of your cooking."
Shiori blushed. "Arigato, Shuuichi. Aishiteru."
Mychela laughed as Shiori spoke in rapid Japanese, most of which she couldn't translate, but she did catch the words 'koi,' and 'baka.'
'Love' and 'idiot.'
Mychela knew she really didn't want a full translation when Kurama blushed and glanced at her with wide eyes. "Umm… Shuuichi-chan, I don't want to know what's being said, do I?"
"No, you really don't."
"I want a translation later, though."
He sighed. "Alright."
"I am being so rude! Come, Mychela-san. You must be tired, standing here in the doorway!"
"No, I'm not, ma'am. However, it is a pleasure to be in your home."
-You know precisely what to say to get on her good side. Should I be wary?- Kurama asked her telepathically, eyes laughing.
-Shut up,- she replied, not really meaning it.
He 'laughed' in her mind, causing her to smile.
Shiori sat her at a table before she realized that she had done something unintentionally that was truly insulting. She had her outdoor shoes on in the house.
"Umm… may I be excused for a moment, Minamoto-san? I still have my shoes on."
Shiori nodded, setting out a plate and cups on the table.
She dashed to the door, unzipped her boots, and slid them off before walking back to the dining room.
"Gomen ne, ma'am."
Shiori dismissed it with a wave of her hand and looked at Kurama. Another rapid string of Japanese.
"Try one of the shortbread cookies, Mychela. This is going to take a while."
She took a cookie before watching the exchange between Kurama and Shiori.
"Mother! We're being rude. Mychela doesn't speak Japanese fluently," Kurama finally pointed out. "And we're disturbing her. She hasn't even taken a bite yet!"
Shiori looked at her. "It is my turn to apologize."
"It's nothing. My mother and I are always at each other's throats. I find it… relaxing… in a sense, to let someone else do the arguing."
Shiori laughed again. "Eat, then. Shuuichi and I will argue in English."
Mychela's eyes widened. "That's not necessary. Shuuichi is helping me learn Japanese, so I think it best if I'm not babied by always being spoken to in English."
Shiori's eyes widened. "Fine."
-x-
"It's time to go, Mychela."
She nodded and looked at Shiori. "Thank you, Shiori, for allowing me in your home."
"You are welcome here anytime, Mychela."
They hugged and Mychela stepped away.
"Ja ne, Shiori!" she said, once up the alley.
She didn't hear Shiroi's reply, but read it on her lips. Good-bye, Mychela!
-I won't see her again, will I?-
-If you desire to, you will,- Kurama replied.
She nodded and slipped deep into her own thoughts.
-x-
Okay, that's my longest chapter yet! Six pages with Word! Probably could have made it longer, but… Well, I got lazy, a little bit, and I had a former Marine breathing down my neck! Will update as soon as I can get Reynolds off my back.
BTW, Ivy Raine, what period of Reynolds' are you in? Are we even talking about the same Reynolds? Just curious.