By: Silver Neko
A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, or any products, movies, or other things mentioned in this fic. Please don't sue me, I'm too young to pay for a lawyer.
Wow! More review-ness! Thank you so much! The apparent Kuwabara-bashing is entirely for two reasons. One) I don't like him. Two) My character doesn't like him. Sorry to any Kuwabara fans. But I don't like him. Please read and review thank you so much! Please don't flame, but I welcome constructive criticism I do I do!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I look around the corner, then check behind me. Orange-hair, who said his name was Kuwabara when he asked me on a *gag, choke, disgust noise here* date, seems to be nowhere around. I breathe a sigh of relief at this. The guy was getting more and more incessant about following me around, and I had already moved him up on my list of threats. He has finally hit the top. Right above my other stalker, who is just a vague sense of blackness in the back of my mind. He (she? it?) hasn't followed me around and asked me anything- I have yet to see my speedy little shadow, in fact. And the very, very worst thing is, the only person Kuwabara seems to listen to is that Yusuke guy, who is also the only person that my shadow is never present around. He has been absent for the past two weeks. On a lighter note, that Kagome girl is still gone, apparently suffering from skitzophrenia. Funny. This Sunday, I could swear I felt a really big power sweep through the city. Maybe it's related. Didn't figure her for the type to be crazy like that, anyway, although I only saw her for a week. I suppose she could be just ditching with a more inventive excuse than Yusuke's.
Hallelujah! I'm on that Yusuke's block! Now just go, and ask... and...
"What's up, beautiful? So, you want to go on that date Sunday?" A very familiar, very smug, and very distinctly masculine voice comes from directly in front of me. Or where in front of me would have been, if I hadn't checked behind me. "Ah, I knew you couldn't resist."
I grit my teeth and count backwards from ten. Slowly. In Spanish. How did I learn Spanish? I took the class, back in the States. I'm now counting backwards from 20. It's not working well. "Hello, Kuwabara." My tail twitches from alert-mode into attack-mode, a swishing, dangerous motion, for anyone who knows anything about cats, even though I haven't even turned around to look at him. "Don't you have some thugs to hang out with? Please? Or maybe you could go take a nap on a railroad. I hear there's still a train running through downtown." I ask, offering a subtle hint for him to please get lost. Naturally, he misses it.
"You still haven't answered my question!" He replies, grinning like a loon, and still oh-so-smug about the situation- as if I would actually date a... thing like him. Besides, before I grew up, I figured something out. The bigger predators can swallow the littler ones without even choking. I'm definitely the smaller predator, since I don't want to expose myself. Of course, I pity the poor soul who can't beat this crazy guy. I just don't want to expose myself, or get caught by a cop, or get caught by a teacher, or ruin his alleged 'reputation,' at which point I'd almost certainly be cornered into a fight, where I would have to expose myself, or look like a weakling. Neither choice is particularily appealing to me.
I grit my teeth again, now counting down from a hundred. Someone, anyone, please grant me patience! "Kuwabara? May I ask you a question?" I ask, hoping he'd say yes, I could ask him a question. It looks like he'd say yes, even if I asked if I could use him as a punching bag. Not the brightest move, my stalker.
"What do you want to know, my pretty?" Oooh flattery... I didn't think the brute had it in him! I think I may swoon! Not. Actually... he sounds suspiciously like one of the wicked witches on The Wizard of Oz. I swear, he's going to say, "I'll get you, my pretty! And your little dog, too!" at any minute. Like I'd actually own a dog, but still. I could imagine him taking on mutt-face the hanyou, though.
"Who is Yukina?" I ask, hoping, praying, really, that this 'Yukina' is his girlfriend. His current girlfriend. One who has a damn good hold on him. Please tell me that they're at least engaged. Better, maybe she's his older sister, whom has incredibly high standards for her brother that I will be certain I don't live up to.
"Oh... Ahh... Yukina. Right. Um... Yeah." He seems to be remembering who this 'Yukina' is. Granted, I haven't seen anybody in this city named 'Yukina'- believe me, it's not for a lack of trying.
Another male voice, probably taunting, possibly punk-ish, emerges from behind me. "Having any problems there, Gwena? Don't tell me, our local idiot has managed to corner you?" The guy is Yusuke Urameshi, the nice street punk who has a rein on my stalker, there. He always wears a green uniform, which basically means he doesn't conform to the school rules, unlike a certain stalker. Granted, I wear a black version of the uniform, so I guess I can't really say anything about that. Ah, who cares?
"Damn you Urameshi! It's not like that!" Kuwabara yells, hurting my ears, which flatten instinctively. I let a low warning hiss escape. Yusuke laughs a bit, probably thinking that it really is exactly like that.
"Yusuke? Thick-skull here never answered. Who's Yukina?" I ask, beginning to be frustrated.
"Yukina is his girlfriend. There's some issues with that relationship, though. Don't feel too bad- Kuwabara here has a real thing for cats, y'know. And, you're at least as pretty as Yukina is, and part cat, and without any demons who say you're not available to him. Irresistible combo for the moron." I blink a bit- how the hell did he know I'm a neko-youkai? Unless... I frown as I check my concealment spell, prodding it. Then I check Yusuke and Kuwabara, and I feel like a total and complete idiot. Of course. Why, of all whys, hadn't I figured that one out?
"Lovely. Tell me, why is it, all my life, and no one ever breaks my concealment spell, and one look from horse-head there, and it's like everyone knows what I am?" I ask, looking rather like a petulant cub again, and knowing it, and being even more sullen for it.
"Ah... it's nothing, really. You're just dealing with a new breed of cat, with us, Gwena." I growl at the pun, and he laughs nervously. I stalk off, telling myself I will not rip his insolent little power-free head off. It's not like he knows that I'm probably stronger than him, and devoid of spirit energy like... that.... Hey wait. Don't most humans have at least a smidgeon of spiritual power? What's the deal? Unless... Oh, duh. Of course he can mask his power if I can. I'm not the strongest person out there. But he didn't smell like demon.... I'm pondering the little puzzle as I head off to the shoebox I live in. I put my hand on the door and start to pick the lock, pretty much oblivious to the black aura/scent that covers the hallway. I do that when I'm thinking- zone things out. But I'm sure having a very sharp, very cold, katana pressed to my throat really does the trick for waking me up, mister youkai. Honest! I'll install that burglar alarm today!
"Who are you, and why do you want the jewel, cat?" What the...? Is today the national 'guess who's a neko-youkai in disguise' day? Or have I just really managed to screw up and piss someone off at me? Particularily since the youkai still has the nice katana pressed to my throat. Cheery little thing, ain't he? "I asked a question, cat." What? I'm a youkai, too, y'know! You don't have to sound so condescending!
"Errr... two questions. If I answer wrong, I get beheaded, right?" He nods- the short little spiky-haired firecracker is in front of me, so I can see him nod. "Ah. Thought so. The second question is: What jewel?" I ask as I slowly back up from the psychopath with the lovely little sword. Scary! How did he get into my house? It was locked! I picked the lock! What happened to the key, I wonder. Come to think of it, it took twice as long to pick today. Oh well. The youkai looks rather disbelieving.
"So you mean to tell me you're not the cat-thief after the Shikon no Tama, the jewel that can increase the holder's strength a hundredfold?" He smirks, practically expecting me to admit to it. Like I'd be that stupid, even with a short little firecracker who happens to have a really big knife that's just dying to kill me. Is it just me, or did that sound suspiciously like a pun? Or something. He puts the katana into its sheath at enough speed to encourage me not to do anything rash... like attack him or something.
"Shikon no Tama? You mean that thing Kurama was curious about?" I ask, trying to piece together fragments of memory in their proper order. This school thing is really wearing my nerves. Ugh.
"You know Kurama?" Apparently, he didn't shadow me at school. Lovely. So all I have to do is look out for fangirls with really big clubs at school. Erm... Back to subject, mind-of-mine.
"So it's a really powerful jewel, huh..." ARGH! Why isn't this idiotic puzzle fitting together in my mind? I know I've seen something like it... But... Where? I get the feeling I should know what it is. "About... so big?" I ask, holding my fingers apart. The short youkai is glaring at me like I'm some sort of retard. It ain't my fault that my brain has stopped wanting to work! I'm being worn to a thread! Stupid school.
"Yes, it's about that big. Now, have you seen it, or am I wasting my time?" Aha! Gotcha! I remember now! That Kagome girl! That's the one! She had that... that... Thingymabobber! The one with all the power! That she wore on her neck! I only saw her for about a week, and that was two weeks ago! It was definitely not enough to keep me remembering her well. But now I remember! Yeah!
I think the firecracker-youkai caught a bit of my success in my eyes. After an outburst like that, I must have been shouting with my mind. Whoops. Fifty years of training and I'm still like that. Go figure. "What's so amusing?" Why is it being confused with amusement? I think his hand just twitched toward his sword. Scary. Did I insult him or something? I didn't mean to, honest!
"Nothing- I just remembered where I saw something that matches the description! There's a girl named Kagome at my school. She has something that very closely matches that description- right down to its power. Hell if I know where she is now, though." I scratch the back of my head, thinking. Come to think of it, with how long she's been gone, and how much power that jewel-thing has, maybe there's something to the power wave I felt Sunday. How interesting. I may have just become curious.
Then, another power wave- this less of a wave, more of a subtle wrong feeling, and a jerking sensation. Then everything seemed inside out, and a tearing sensation as something that shouldn't be there... suddenly was. I go all pale on my actual skin as I feel that, and my eyes go big. The little firecracker guy smirks. "What's wrong with you, cat?"
"What!?! Can't you feel it you crazy little firecracker!" I snap, angrily. "Something just happened! And I'm going to go see what, since it might have something to do with your idiotic jewel-thing!" I run out of the room, towards where the rip was at. What could do that? Interesting question, and I'll have to ask it what it is, when I get there. I have a good head start on the little firecracker, but I guess he's really, really, really fast, because he's just behind me now. Interesting... Ack! The little firecracker guy passes me up, now! I stumble a bit as another wave hits, but this is a real wave, not another rip. Far off, I feel about four more rips hit almost simultaneously. But the biggest one is at... Higurashi Shrine, it reads. Isn't that... Isn't that where that Kagome girl lives? Maybe it's related to the jewel thing! I walk up to the weirdest scene. That Kagome girl is facing down a huge insect-like youkai with a bow and a quiver of arrows. Weird. I didn't think that she was in the archery club or something. The little firecracker is hesitating, probably fearing the wannabe priestess's power. Me, when I feel her aura, I don't blame him any. She feels.... dangerous. It's scary, honestly. If that's what I could've been up against, I'm going to thank my shyness for keeping me alive, and not stealing pretty little jewels. My ears twitch as I hear mutt-face's very distinctive voice scream something like, "Tetsusaiga!!" Then there was a big flash of light, and the demon was no longer there. Nor was about fifty-some feet of ground. Apparently, mutt-face is good for something. I'm going to have to find out his real name- mutt-face is beginning to sound childish. There's more demons closing in on the shrine, and I switch to attack mode, sensing a fight is coming.
I turn to the closest demon-aura- somewhere south of me- and ran off. Ooh. I didn't know Kuwabara had that much power- it's sorta-kinda radiating off of him, since he's not controlling it, and he's not fighting with it. Go figure. I think maybe I'm definitely going to have to help him out. I don't think he's quite strong enough of will to deal with two demons at that level alone, especially since he's a guy. I say 'demons' not youkai, for a ve-ery good reason. See, the other problem is that they were a pair of scantily-clad women with smallish horns on their temples and giant, leathery bats' wings. Also, they had long, sharp spines that ran down their backs. I mean, a person could get impaled on one of them, I swear. And to top it off, they were trying to entice Kuwabara. I mean, I don't like the crazy guy, but he's technically mine. Well, technically, he's Yukina's, then mine, but still! Just because I don't like the guy doesn't mean I'm going to let him get his soul stolen and taken off to hell! Stupid succubi. Before I really consider the possibility of getting impaled, I attack one of the succubi. It nicks me with a spine, but I get it with my claws. Weaklings. But they had been getting to him, which was evident in how he seemed to be about to yell at me or something. Well, at least I know he's just easily infatuated. Lucky me. Kuwabara seems to snap out of it, and gets the other one with this orange-ish sword-thingy. Weird. It's made of pure energy. This is also weird. Maybe Kuwabara isn't so terrible after all. Still, I wouldn't bet on Kuwabara in a fight against a real youkai, not some low level soul-snatcher. Whatever.
The other auras blanked out shortly after my prey. I lick the little nick on my hand in annoyance as I walk back to the shrine. Looks like there's something damned odd going on here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Whee! What d'ya think? I dunno about this chapter... It seems a bit short. No, this is not going to be a Kuwabara/Shadow fic. God, no. Just pointing out just how much judging people before you know what they're capable of can make you have to redecorate your mind. My character seems just a little bit... erm... opinionated. Lovely character. Wonder why I made her like that. Anyhow, what'cha think? Good? Bad? Otherwise? I only have so many marshmallows, so please don't flame me. I think Kuwabara is slightly (a lot) out of character. But hey. It was something moderately funny, and it made for an interesting chapter start. At least a little.