Note: Hi, I hope you all are not angry. But you guys probably are, and no ones gonaa read this and its all my fault!! I am soo lazy! I don't feel worthy for your kind reviews! : ( I would like to thank all those who reviewed, and hope u like this.
NOTE: I think I said this before, but anyway, Jade is 15, Yusuke, Keiko & Kuwabara are 16 and I decided to make Kurama 17. Jade and everyone else is in high school and the whole Raishin, Mukuro and Youmi arc didn't happen.
Disclaimer: I, Sweet Myst do not own (but wish I did) any of the characters from YYH and Jackie Chan Adventures
Author's note:
(......) is my commentary
K.......K is Kurama's thoughts
J.......J is Jade's thoughts
other ppl's thoughts will be labeled as person's name- and then the stuff they say in their head....
Through The Looking GlassChapter 7:
The scene opens in a dark, musty room. Book upon book is piled on top of each other. All is quiet and not a living thing stirs the stillness of the room. If one entered this silent area, the abundance of ancient knowledge that was accumulated here over many many years could almost be felt in the stuffy air. Only in this extensive library did yellow paged and hand bounded manuscripts act as the room's own unique air fresheners
The smell of mung-beans could also be noticed if one were to concentrate hard enough. And if this visitor were to squint into the darkness, a bag half-filled with mung beans would be seen on an antique looking wooden desk. Lying all alone on this wooden desk, it looked like it were desperately calling out for someone to keep it company and possibly eat it.
And as if by magic, the bag filled with mung beans would not be lonely any more. Company has arrived.
BANG went the front door of Uncle's shop.
In quick steps came in the owner of the shop, his nephew and his apprentice, creating quite a racket in the previously noiseless store.
"Thoru, Jackie! Take the books from the back and bring them to section 13! And hurry! Do not drop any of them! They are priceless!"
"But, Uncle, which books?" –asked Jackie, as he gazed at many shelves of magic books and the countless of scrolls and ancient texts scattered on the wooden floor.
"Aiii-yahhh! Must Uncle do everything by himself?!"- A very irritated uncle proceeded to help Jackie sort out which books he wanted. Before entering the back room of the house which stored the books that were about to be taken to section 13, he ordered Thoru to deal with the sorting out of necessary potions, magic ingredients and basic wizardry supplies that were needed to locate a persona lost in another dimension.
Cough-cough- "Uncle are you sure these are All necessary?"
Came Jackie's voice, muffled by a towering stack of a combined pile of ancient texts and tattered scrolls. His feet were wobbling and he tittered to both of his sides, as if he were to topple over at any second.
"YES, we Do need them!!! Why do You question Uncle?!! Hmmm? Do you not trust his aged and experienced wisdom??! No? "
Here, Jackie makes a sound, which without the ton of paper in his arms, would have sounded like a no.
"Then DO Not question Me! And do not complain. You have been growing round in the middle, like your wife was. You need to work out more!" And Uncle ended his criticism with a little poke at a certain leather-bounded manuscript where Jackie's middle would have been.
The little action propelled the unstable moving book stack backward and out the shop's front door; straight into the opened doors of a rather large and highly modern black van. Jackie was promptly buried in a heap of parchment with only his twitching leg and hand above the not so very soft hard covered books and scrolls.
"Thoru are you done yet?!" -the speaker yelled, ignoring the state his nephew was currently in.
"Yes, sensei." Thoru said, standing next to a neat stack of most of the shop's magic supply. Among the materials about to be transported to Section 13, were a black cauldron, jars, and odd looking containers of powders, gooey liquids and floating pieces of long gone animal specimens.
"Good. Now we must go."- Uncle sighed, tired. From the way his shoulders sagged and with his eyes half closed, he looked exhausted. But that mere second flashed by and was replaced by a determined look in his eye, for all chi-wizards' fighting spirits are never easily dominated.
-------Scene Change----- A few hours after Jackie's, Uncle's and Thoru's mass movement of supplies to Section 13:
Finn, Ratso and Chow were not having a good day. Being caught again just really really sucked. Having a Long record of failed attempted jailbreaks just did not look good on one's street rep. You'd think that after 345 tries, now 346 tries, they'd get it right. But sadly with this trio, their goal of being free to make another heist from the nearest bank/ jeweler's was not to be. And, instead of being caught by their perceptive jail guards, (who by this time were expecting the usual jail break attempt every other day or so) this time their plans were foiled by none other than the masked crusader and his protégé, backed up with a band of some of the best agents section 13 had.
"El Toro! Paco! Hi. How are you?"- Finn said, trying to play it cool, while being hoisted 5 feet from the ground by El Toro.
Chow had his hands up; a bit nervous because agents from section 13 all had their laser guided weapons pointed toward his chest. So, his plain orange prison outfit was now polka dotted with bright red circles.
Meanwhile, Ratso faced off with Paco and due to one of Paco's wrestling moves, the Whirling Tornado Feet to be precise, ( I'm pretty sure they haven't used this particular move in the series, but I don't pay much attention to the names of their moves, sorry!) Ratso now had his face in the dirt.
Watching Ratso hit the ground; the other two attempted escapees grimaced.
"Hey! I know that move! You used it yesterday on that blue masked dude in the ring. Way t'go on winning Mexico City's finals competition Paco! " –Finn said, trying to butter up Paco, so he would somehow get El Toro to let go of him.
Paco smiled, priding himself that even people as isolated in a prison knew of his fame in the ring. But, ever since Jade shrunk his head, his ego wasn't that big to not notice why Finn had decided to compliment him.
"Soo, uhhh, why you guys here?" -Chow asked, calmer now that the agents decided to put down their guns and cuffed him instead, along with the other two attempted escapees.
The orange clad inmates were made to reenter the fortress they had tried to escape from yet again. Walking down the drab hallway of the state prison, the captives and capturers made their way to the interrogation rooms.
"Why'd you bring your own army?" – Ratso asked.
"You will see."-El Toro said in a serious voice.
The three buddies wondered what the big secret was, but couldn't get another chance to ask, for they just entered the prison wing dedicated to interrogations. At this point, the head agent from the section 13 group whispered to El Toro something and El Toro nodded in confirmation. The agents split up into pairs; each pair simultaneously opened the metal doors nearest to them. This action allowed Finn, Ratso and Chow to glimpse who was inside each. Their curiosity as to what was going on peaked, for in each of the cold dark rooms were previous acquaintances/ fellow inmates seated on uncomfortable cold, metal prison chairs and all looking pretty surprised at this mass summoning from their former enemies or the military friends of former enemies (meaning Jackie & co. as the former enemies and Section 13 as the military friends).
In room 3b:
interrogators: Agent Jackson & Agent Bryant
prisoner: Mr. Valmont (u ppl, should know who he is)
In room 3c:
interrogators: Agent Sting & Agent Delucia
prisoner: Dao Long Wong (the dark chi wizard, that wants to gain more power. This desire usually (ok, always) leads him into conflict with Jackie & co. A conflict, which he has always lost, time and again.)
In room 3d:
interrogators: Agent Flamingo & Agent Verbatyne
prisoner: Mr. Chang (A millionaire from Taiwan, that has a thing for jade (the stone, not the niece ppl; (that'd be soo gross, especially since he is OLD with gray hair) He was sent to prison after the J-team exposed his stolen stash of jade pieces from around the world. He has made several attempts at revenge against the J-team, but he was always defeated.)
In room 3e:
interrogators: Agent Blake & Agent Sobrado
prisoner: Hak Fu (the red haired guy, that likes to fight. He worked for Valmont and Dao Long Wong before. He is a good fighter, but always loses to Jackie. His main objective in life is to become stronger and to defeat Jackie Chan)
In room 3f:
interrogators: Agent Trent & Agent Prescott
prisoner: Mr. Joe Smith (made up name, but character is real) (aka Rap Master Ice) (the ex-pizza delivery guy, turned rebel ninja who wanted revenge against a monastery, where he had learned martial arts, for kicking him out. He met defeat in the hands of Jackie & Jade, plus, Finn Ratso and Chow helped to defeat this punk teen too.)
In room 3g:
interrogators: Agent Chadwick & Agent Zahorik
prisoner: Mr. Heung Wing Sun (previously employed by Mr. Chang to bring down the J-team. He used his black magic to make clones of the team members and caused a lot of trouble. But he was beaten by the combined forces of the original J-team & their clones)
(I made up his name, but he was an actual character)
These were the only faces that Finn, Ratso and Chow had gotten a good look at, before they too were ushered into their own interrogation cell. There were a few other occupied rooms that a couple of agents entered, to begin their assigned prisoner questioning, but as said before, the three didn't get a chance to see who else was catching up with old opponents.
"Come in here."-ordered El Toro.
They complied knowing that they had no other choice.
Paco stood alert as El Toro took the only remaining seat in the room, across from the captives
"So, what did you guys want to ask us?"- Chow asks, his voice slightly high pitched. The room's gray walls and lack of windows or much light started to make this ex-Sun-glass hut employee a bit claustrophobic
"What have you three been doing these past few weeks?"-El Toro began.
"Nuthin much."-Ratso replied for the three
"The prison guards tell us different."- Paco pointed out, leaning against the cement wall, he looked over the three. The teen began to wonder if they even had any information that would be useful in finding Jade, but he and El Toro were acting on the advice of the Captain.
It was standard protocol to question all and any who made the suspects list. Even if they were locked down in a high security prison, they could have played some part in an abduction that took place in the outside world. Mr. Chang's past conflicts and attempts of revenge against the J-team while in prison (and his usual escaping of prison) was a fine example of such a situation.
"Did you know that your attempted escapes have made your stay in the state prison triple." – El Toro points out
The three inmates wince. They had not known their attempts to get back to the outside world, had actually landed them with nine more years of jail time.
"We Would like to know WHY you all go to try so hard to escape." Paco questions in a tone, accompanied with a glare of mistrust, that makes it quite clear that he suspected them of clandestine and illicit plots.
( yeah, I'm practicing my SAT word vocabulary)
"Oh we just want to be freemen again, is all. Good behavior doesn't even get a guy to go out to the city for an hour!"- Finn said
"You guys don't know what its like! You've never been in a state-pen before! Being here for another nine years is going to drive us insane!"- Chow comments, rather hysterically.
"Yeah!! We have blisters on top of blisters from doing laundry and gardening everyday. We aren't even allowed to play baseball here!"- Ratso adds in, lamenting that even his favorite sport was taken away from him.
"What do you have waiting outside these walls that would drive you to get out of here at all costs?"-El Toro asks.
"Ohhh, just a few ban -ow!" Before the Frankenstein look alike could finish his sentence, a sneaker-clad foot jammed itself into the said speaker's leg, effectively silencing the loud mouth dolt of the group.
"So all these pathetic attempts to escape from jail, were to rob a few banks? I don't buy it!" –SLAM- Little dust particles rocketed up into the air for a few centimeters as Paco's hands came down onto the table. His action was made all the more louder due to the small confines of the questioning room.
"Calm down, Paquito. They will tell us what we want to know soon enough. And hopefully we will not have to resort to such violence that is only fit to be seen in a ring."
Another glare is shot at the nervous inmates.
"But, El Toro I really want to try out my new and improved signature move before next week's match for the Americas' title of Best Wrestler. And I think these three would be far more enduring than those ex-soldiers you hire for me to train with." Paco stops to watch the panicky looks on the convicts' faces. His tirade was having the desired affect, soon they would learn if these men had anything to do with Jade being MIA.
"El Ataque de instantáneo muerte (Attack of Instant Death) still hasn't left any of my opponents standing, and well more or less alive. But seeing as these three have lasted so long and so well in 5 different prisons, being employed by a crime boss, a dark chi sorcerer and by two demons already, they should be able to handle all that I can dish out to them, don't you think? Well, without much damage at least."- Here he taps his chin thoughtfully, his eyes rolling up toward the ceiling.
He was picturing in his head what would happen if this fictional move was actually put to use in a fight in the ring. It's name sounded pretty cool, it just had that nice ring to it. Paco smiled in his head, he had just thought it up right on the spot, something that reminded him of Jade's usual quick wit that she held in abundance ever since they were kids, and boy did she always let him know it. His mental smile faded a little, as he promised himself that he would hear her sarcastic remarks and passionate rebukes to his opinions again.
As his protégé was reaffirming his vows of friendship in his head, El Toro's brown steady eyes went back to the three in front of him.
El Toro- It would seem that Jade's imagination has rubbed off on Paquito. –El Toro allows a small smile to form on his face. The guys in cuffs and orange suits across from him take it as a bad sign.
As sweat trickles down their brows, visions of all the past fights that they saw in performed in wrestling rings came back to them with a vengeance.
Two of the three now wholly comprehended the deeper meaning of the words "Ignorance is bliss." Well, it still wouldn't have been bliss in the questioning cell, but not knowing all the pro-wrestlers' moves, some rightly nick-named Braza-torcedura de infierno, (Arm twisting of Hell) and Puñetazo de dolores mil (Punch of 1,000 pains) would have made Finn & Chow feel a lot better.
And the third of the group was not at all worried at the not so subtle threat of torture from the impatient teen. His mind was contemplating far more important things, like what was for lunch today? Would it be gray gruel again or his favorite Meaty Surprise?
If a person in this tense room would strain their ears hard enough, a small creaking sound could be heard, it was as if the breaking of wills and silence was coming.
"Ok! OK! We'll tell all, just don't hurt us!!"
"Isn't this cruel and unusual punishment?"
Pearly white canines flashed as the young idol pointed out quite an obvious fact: "Only if someone finds out."
"We're innocent I tell ya! innocent. We didn't get a chance to do anything anyway!!"
Watching their eyes grow wide with anxiety and fear from the threat of extreme physical pain hanging over their heads, Paco believed that they were telling the truth, but how could he make sure?
And then something happens in the room that takes all of its occupants by surprise. Some of the more nervous people jumped a few inches off their seats before they understood what had happened.
A ringing cell phone interrupted this lovely chat between long acquaintances. Eyes are drawn to the jean pocket of a certain teen and he sweat-dropped as he knew the Mucha Lucha themed ring tone had popped the tense moment that was in the air.
"Sorry."
The smile that had won him the hearts of many teenage girls and the award for La Ciudad de Mexico! Magazine's rising star of the year, flashed on his face apologetically. Walking behind the seated El Toro, Paco was confident that his coach could handle himself and he slipped out of the room to answer his specially made cell.
Pressing a green button, he raised his cell to be at his eye level and said "Buenos tardes. Who is it?"
The gray screen of the cellular phone's window brightened into a colored moving picture that steadily came into focus. It was the captain and judging from his downcast eyes things did not look good.
"Emergency J-team meeting Paco. Uncle and Thoru found something. You and El Toro may want to be here. Afterwards, you can continue questioning the suspects or help Jackie in tracking down more elusive beings that we would like to talk to."
Paco raised an eyebrow at the captain's choice of words, getting the hint of what he truly meant. Elusive beings translated into non-human entities that would be hard to find and/or get information out of.
"I understand. We'll leave immediately."
"See you soon."
And with that, the conversation ended. Paco stuck his head back into the dimly lighted room, involuntarily blinking to adjust back to the darkness. Speaking in Spanish, Paco told El Toro of his call.
"El Toro, lo siento pero el capitan me acaba de hablar y usted quiere que nosotros regresar al Section trece para una reunión emergencia, ahora."
Translation: El Toro, I'm sorry, but the Captain just called me and he wishes that we return to Section 13 for an emergency meeting now."
"Bueno, vaminos. ¿Sí?"
"Sí."- Paco agreed with a curt nod.
The three people in handcuffs looked on, wishing that at least one of them knew Spanish.
With their conversation done, El Toro stood and went to get the guard as Paco stood watch over the prisoners. Within minutes the two wrestlers were heading back to Section 13.
(hmm, can anyone guess whose the good cop and whose the bad cop by now? I think I'm really bad at this cop-questioning thing. : ( how sad....)
The whirling of sirens broke the relative peace and quiet of Mr. Saku's (name means remembrance of the lord) classroom. The scratching of pens against paper stopped as students grew curious as to the reason for the continuous parade of ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and a few news vans.
Keiko Ukimira simply looked up and frowned, not enjoying the noisy interruption from her class-work. But she too could not ignore the incessant blares of noise coming from the emergency vehicles driving past their school. Some of the less well-behaved students couldn't hold their inquisitive nature within any longer and left their seats to look out the window. But this action was useless, and only led to the irritation of the teacher plus ten points off their next test.
As the teacher tried to restore order over his class, the bell rang signaling the start of the next period. Ignoring what the teacher was currently saying, (it went along the lines of "And you all better hand in your 15 page report on the wide ranging effects of Commodore Perry's landing tomorrow! Or else!") his empty threats went unnoticed by his pupils, all intent on leaving the classroom as soon as possible.
Keiko took her time, noticing that there were still some police cars and news vans driving by, all in the same direction. Sighing, she wished that her school wasn't so close to the Tokyo Adventist Hospital. But at the same time, her kind nature felt guilty and she hoped that no one was seriously hurt.
Keiko leisurely walked down the halls of her school, most of her peers were already eating lunch in the cafeteria, but some decided to loiter, also taking their time going to lunch.
When a group of less than admirable students loitering about in the hall took notice of the young, pretty brunette walking calmly pass them without giving any one of them a glance, they decided to bother her. ( A very bad choice indeed, evil chuckling is heard. )
"Hey. What's a cutie like you all alone?" His tone was a sad attempt at charming the girl into his arms.
"Yeah, why don't you hang out with us?" another student asked.
"We'll all have lots of fun."-a third added in; his comment causing laughter from his other friends.
Keiko didn't respond and instead walked on. But against what I would have advised, the punks persisted. Apparently they should listen to what other students have to say on Keiko's relationship with a certain green-clad young man, it would have saved all of them from immense pain.
"Where ya going to?"- the leader of the group asked her
When she didn't show the slightest sign that she had heard any of them and increased her pace of walking, one of the cronies piped up.
"Don't you know it's rude not to say anything when someone's talking to you?"
"Yeah, we won't bite. All we want is to get to know you better."
At the end of this remark, the speaker decided to block her way from going down a stairwell that would have led to the cafeteria. He slipped past her, leaned against the banister and put his leg up against the wall. Effectively closing her in, as his other delinquent friends lined up behind her.
Quietly, but sternly Keiko finally replies to their futile ( and quite pathetic) advances.
Ever the polite one, she says "Please get out of my way."
"And what if we don't want to Miss?"- the one blocking her said
"Get out of my way!"- Keiko burst out, her temper rising to the surface.
"Ohhh-ho-ho, lookie here boys. She's got spunk."
"Yeah, and quite a pretty face to go with it."-said by the boy who is standing in front of Keiko.
–And the fool who said this comment chose the very bad moment to prove his point by grabbing Keiko's chin, causing her to wince at the unexpected action. He dragged her face until they were centimeters apart.
Well, now we all know Keiko is no martial arts expert, but it is a fact that she is no pushover. Plus, spending so much time with her spirit detective boyfriend exposed this innocent high-schooler to other means of getting things done, such as using your fist to do the talking. Hence, her next action, a vulgar comment which no one would have thought Keiko was capable of even thinking, let alone saying out loud and a hard slap to the face which even the best spirit detective was always left feeling dazed from. This got the attention of a previously said persona, good for Keiko, bad for these no-good teenage hoodlums.
SLAP!
Yusuke Urameshi was having a bad day, a really bad day.
First, he got back very late from the impromptu meeting in Soul World and he just had to promise Keiko that'd he be in today. His poor blue alarm clock is the only evidence needed to show how foul a mood he woke up in.
You wouldn't find its mechanical remains inside his room. It's four stories below in small pieces, lying deserted on the cement sidewalk, where the non-morning teen had tossed it out of his window.
But oh well, at least he'd get a free lunch made by Keiko herself. That was what he was looking forward to and got him through the first horrible periods.
He finally managed to drag himself out of bed, having to stumble over his mom who was still in a hangover from her late partying and slowly walked his way to school, yawning all the way. He ignored the scuttling of his fellow classmates and their quiet whispers as he passed them. He was too tired to yell at them today, but hey tomorrow was another day to improve upon his bad-boy rep.
His first few classes were a blur, mainly because he was asleep at his desk but in his defense these teachers were known to be boring. Neither they nor other students sitting next to him even tried to wake him up. The teachers were very surprised that he even decided to show up and the students were too scared of him to even want to wake him up.
So, as the rest of the class learned about geometry and other mathematical stuff ( yeah, very descriptive aren't I? ) Yusuke's soft snoring could be heard coming from his desk all the way in the back. The teacher and students ignored him.
When the bell rang, Yusuke was still dreaming pleasant peaceful dreams. With his eyes closed and head resting on his arms the usual air of hostility wasn't there. So, the teacher worked up the courage to poke the sleepy teen with his metal pointer. The new teacher had already heard the rumors regarding this particular student and sincerely hoped that he wouldn't regret waking up the toughest fighter in town.
"Ummm, Uremeshi wake up. It's time for your next class. Uremeshi?"
The teacher poked the teen's shoulder a few times to see if he was moving any time soon. His voice was a bit nervous; the poor teacher never had someone fall asleep in his class before. He had so far only taught 2nd graders, and thought teaching high schoolers would be an interesting challenge.
"Huh? What?"- Yusuke said, a bit hazy from his doze. But after rubbing his eyes and a stretch that sent the teacher ducking to miss the flying arm sent his way, our spirit detective was ready to meet his Keiko for lunch.
So, as he made his way unhurriedly to the lunchroom, a path that led him down a hall, down a flight of stairs and just as he was about to reach his destination, a familiar sound was heard. The sound of a painful slap that he knew only one person in the world could ever make, since it was he who was usually at the receiving end of it.
Chocolate eyes went ablaze, and knuckles popped as two previously unoccupied hands balled into a fist. There was only one way to get Keiko angry enough to actually make her hit someone, and that would be to put "undesired attention" upon her. And only one person was allowed to do that to her, and that one person was going to beat the living hell (or if you want, enter your own colorful language into this sentence, right about now) out of the people provoking his Keiko into physical violence.
After the slap, a shriek of surprise and pain was heard along the hallways of this high school. Not even a second later a blur of green blew down the hall following the sounds of distress.
Running footsteps were heard and one of the hooligans found himself bleeding in the nose and doubled over on the floor, shock clearly evident in his now bruised face, which was turning into interesting shades of purplish color by the minute.
"Nani?!" –came the group leader's reply. He did not see how his lackey had been beaten up. But then his eyes laid themselves upon the angry teen that was currently aiming another vicious kick to the guy's gut, simultaneously yelling out many crude comments at the boy already on the floor.
-Gulp- went the little gang, as they realized who it was.
Only one boy in the history of their High School ever wore a green uniform and had his hair gelled like that. Plus, he didn't even need a gang or followers to do his dirty work. He found joy in hearing those that pissed him off for the day scream in agony as he repeatedly punches them in the stomach. Well, at least that's what everyone says.
"What do we have here?!" –Yusuke asked, trying to appear calm. He stepped over the whimpering boy and glared at the rest of them. He just remembered that Keiko didn't really like watching him beat up worthless trash like them. But hey, he loves the girl, so he'll just break all their bones after school in the schoolyard. That is after he walks her home.
"Just talking to my girlfriend here, that's all." – said one of the guys, pointing at Keiko who was now located at the bottom of the steps, cradling her ankle.
(He is really asking for it, isn't he?)
Keiko blushed when her boyfriend's eyes bored into her own. She winced at the other boy's comment, already knowing what Yusuke would want to do to him. She felt sorry for him because even she couldn't stop Yusuke every time he wanted to get involved in a school fight. But that was a part of his personality that she had fallen in love with, and besides he never hurt them too badly. They always came into school a week later in crutches or slings, sometimes a combination of both. ( that doesn't sound like our Keiko-chan, but oh well )
Uremeshi began to see red as he registered what the boy just said, and the fact that Keiko was at the bottom of the stairwell, injured.
Y- His! What the #(&!! He hurt her too! I am going to ...( please feel free to use your imaginations, as to what Yusuke would like to do to this group of particularly annoying boys. I know what I'd like to do! - )...... grrr!-Y
Yusuke didn't even bother to finish that thought as he took a menacing step forward. His annoyance grew as the boys took a step back.
In a low cold whisper, Yusuke lowers his head, so they couldn't see the emotions in his eyes. He says: "That's funny because since the last time I checked, she's MY GIRLFRIEND." Raising his head, they saw that his eyes had narrowed dangerously as he spat out the last part, raising his voice showing the cowering boys that he meant business.
Keiko only reaffirmed this as she whispered "Yusuke-kun."
Uh-oh, went the previous bullies. As they finally recognized whom the girl they had with them was.
Here is the clipping of last week's gossip column from Keiko and Yusuke's high school (as if they'd actually have this, but work with me here, this is the unofficial gossip column that some student posts online and lots of the student population reads, k?
PS. You can skip this part and come back, if you can't wait to see what's going on with Jade & Kurama, they're down there somewhere. This part is just what Yusuke's & Keiko's peers see in their relationship. )
Yusuke Uremeshi is now officially going out with the top and arguably the most admired female student Kieko Ukimira. As everyone knows Yusuke Uremeshi is the most dangerous teenage boy in the school. With his trademark green outfit and gelled back hair, it is a wonder if you miss him. But considering his faulty attendance record, it is rare to see him for a whole day of school, anyway.
But Ukimira is very different, and this reporter just had to ask why in the world would a girl with such a bright future do this to herself? And when confronted with this question, Keiko Ukimira, our school's brightest pupil simply said that her private life was none of our business. With a beautiful face and figure and not lacking in the brains department, it is no wonder why any one is attracted to her.
When asked why Ukimira would do such a thing, close friends say it was a real shock and they speculate, as well as the many male admirers whom Keiko had turned down, that she was forced into this relationship and is suffering from it. It is believed by many that this relationship is very damaging for our Keiko-chan, both physically and mentally. It is quite admirable that Miss Ukimira's grades have so far not been affected.
We here at Gossip for U! did not think it prudent to ask Yusuke Uremeshi on his side of the story.
This statement of their coupling is fully backed by strong evidence as the two in question have been seen together at many school functions that Ukimira had helped organized. It is highly suspected that Ukimira has enough control over Uremeshi to be able to drag him along to attend such school revelry, like the Valentine's Day dance, the Sakura Blossom festival, the Christmas Dance and a whole lot more. As these snapshots shown here indicate, Yusuke Uremeshi seems to hold our Keiko-chan on a short leash.
(The pictures provided in this article show them dancing, holding hands and basically enjoying each others company in the background of other pictures; because Yusuke would never ever stand still for a gossip column to take a picture of him & Keiko. It also shows him not allowing any other guys to approach Keiko. You can see Yusuke raising his fist at any and all guys looking at Keiko in a more than friendly way, while Keiko's back is turned and then the cowards run away, before Keiko even noticed they were there.)
It is even suspected that the recent spike in school fights with many injured students being sent to the nearby hospital is partially due to the fact that this pair is now official. The latest incidents have reportedly involved school bad boy, Yusuke Uremeshi, and an undisclosed number of other male students, who would not comment on what happened.
But eyewitness accounts all have the same story. The boys were somehow deemed threatening to Keiko by her boyfriend and swiftly dealt with. Most of them receive stitches or casts from the doctors of Tokyo Adventist Hospital. These doctors say that the wounds inflicted on these young men are all very similar and point to the same culprit; someone with a lot of strength and the will to use it. When asked who did this to them, the victims lying on the hospital beds, all decided it was in their best interests not to comment.
So, here you have it, the latest gossip from Sarayashiki High. Remember, gossip can't really hurt; they're only a few words. So, if you have anything to say, feel free to email us your story. Till next time, ja ne!
PS. Remember to have a shred of proof to base your story on. : )
When Yusuke found out about this article, he did not know whether to track the writer down and beat him up and destroy his computer; or beat up all the people throwing him dirty looks and Keiko looks of sympathy.
(Hmm, decisions decisions. Or, he could've did both! : ) )
Yusuke couldn't help but smirk as the usual beads of sweat began to form on the low lives' brows. He cracked his knuckles in front of them threateningly, knowing that they were already half-scared witless.
"So, what will it be boys?"- Yusuke asked, a devilish smile on his face. A part of him really wanted to fight them right here and now, but the other side told him to get Keiko out of the way first. And listening to his more rational side, Yusuke tried to do just that.
"W-w-w-we'rre r-r-re-real-ly s-s-s-so-sorr-ry for the mis-un-unde-understanding here, Mr. Uremeshi."
"W-w-we'llll ju-jus-jusst b-bee g-g-go-ing n-n-n-ow."
And with that the stuttering boys, high tailed it down the stairs, hoping that they wouldn't end up in the hospital this afternoon or the next. But what made their situation worse was that when they were pushing each other down the stairs to get as far away as possible, they made the mistake of stepping onto Keiko-chan's already injured ankle, causing her to shriek in surprise. The boys saw and heard this. And decided to run for their lives; for they knew that they had all just shortened it by a few years. Yusuke Uremeshi was going to get them.
"Keiko!" he yells.
He jumps down the stairs that were separating them. He took a last glance at the group of boys who were running out the door at the moment. It was no matter, he already memorized their faces and soon not even their own mothers would be able to recognize them, not after Yusuke was finished.
(Hahaha, go Yusuke! Baka teenage boys, they shouldn't have picked on the girlfriend of a fist-happy spirit detective!)
"Are you ok?"- His normally glaring eyes softened as he brushed away a few strands of hair that fell onto Keiko's face. "What did they do to you?"
"I tripped down the stairs when I tried to get away from them."
The image of one of them holding her chin popped up in her mind, and Keiko couldn't help but put her hand to her cheek, reaffirming that the undesired contact was gone. Yusuke noticed this, heck he is a detective after all, and he also noted that her chin was slightly redder than the other parts of Keiko's perfectly smooth face. It was as if pressure had been applied there. He stored this information for later, as in after school where there was no Keiko around to stop him from pounding those bakas to the cold hard cement ground.
"And I think I sprained my ankle."- she placed a small ivory hand above her ankle, that was already red and starting to swell.
It was simply amazing how well Yusuke was taking this. Normally he would have blown up at the sight of Keiko being injured, but let's just say he's gotten more mature and understood that the most important thing at the moment was to take care of Keiko.
"Come on." Here, the teen squatted down so the wounded girl could climb onto his back.
At first Keiko blinked and then blinked again, finally understanding why her boyfriend was doing that. She smiled and accepted. But not before Yusuke commented with his usual impatience, "Hurry it up!"
So, as they raced along the halls, Yusuke screaming "Move it! Move it! Out of my way!"
Keiko simply buried her head into the green material of his school uniform, blushing and at the same time, trying to ignore her sprained ankle.
Other students had to jump out of the way of the speeding piggybacking teen. Question marks hanging over their heads, as some still had no idea where the trail of dust had come from. But hey this was Sarayashiki High where odd things have been happening since three certain students were admitted in; it wasn't that weird, so back to work they went.
"Darn-it! (Again insert the words Yusuke would actually use, but I would never type, this is PG13 right? ) Why won't they open the &%#ing door!?"
No one answered Yusuke as he continued to pound on the metal door of the nurse's office with his foot. Within seconds of no reply, the door came crashing down, with one well-aimed kick by the teen. Yet, no one was inside as he stepped over the glass and broken pieces of metal, only a note flew down onto his face, as if it came out of no where and fate had decided to drop it on him.
"Out to lunch" the note read, and soon a string of Japanese street words were heard, making the other occupant of the room chastise her carrier's choice of words.
"Yusuke we're still in school! Don't say such things!"
"Keiko, you're hurt, the nurse isn't here, no one else can help. And you expect me not to swear?!"- He aimed a kick to a green trashcan, leaving it hopelessly unusable.
His mood didn't improve when Keiko involuntarily made a hiss of pain as her sprained ankle increased its level of discomfort. Scowling, he looked around the office for something to lessen the agony Keiko was in. He found nothing, but then an idea came to him.
"Well, I was planning on cutting after lunch anyway."- he mutters. But Keiko had heard him.
"Yusuke! Now where are we going!?"- Keiko admonished and questioned from Yusuke's back
"To get you healed. Now shut up and rest."- said by the teen as he made his way to his destination.
"Demo, we have to tell a teacher first and sign out and get permission to l...."-before she could even finish her sentence, Keiko found herself in a public street, turning around she stared at the entrance of her school as it became smaller by the second.
"Yusuke!" – Her boyfriend's name came out as a yell, she was full aware of what number of school rules they were breaking in the process.
The boy decided to ignore her protests and instead concentrated on weaving through the congested streets of Tokyo to get to the place where he knew Keiko could get treated for her sprain. He quickened his jumps and running as the main entrance of Tokyo's Adventist Hospital came into view.
"Ow!" -Came a loud outburst. But it was hardly heard beneath the piercing and shrill sirens of the vehicle the complainer was riding in.
"I know it hurts sweety, but try not to move around. And do take your hands away from your eyes, so I can get a better look. I had to spray them with this (here, the female paramedic shakes a bottle of very strong antibacterial solution in front of the girl currently sitting in the fast moving ambulance.) or else you'll get an infection. At least, you two did a good job on washing all the acid off. Now, stay still, we have to do this as many times as possible before we get to the ER."
J- Whaaaatttt??????!!!! That stuff seriously stings! And now my eyes actually hurt! By the time I get to the hospital I'll really need medical attention. -J
Jade couldn't help but wince as Aneko Higurashi ( first name means older sister, and no this is not a crossover fic with Inuyasha. I just borrowed the last name) the aging paramedic leaned toward her again to administer a second dosage. Even though the horse talisman power ensured that there would be no lasting damage to Aneko's kindly administrations, the spray hurt like hell for the first few seconds it was applied. It took very little time for the healing power of the horse talisman to work and make any physical discomfort disappear, but those few seconds were still painful to bear.
J- Whose bright idea was it to focus the spell on my eyes?.....(time goes tick-tock-tick-tock)...Darnit! It was mine. Next time, I am so going to think more about the consequences before I do another spell. Well, on the bright side at least I got used to the pain (referring to the spray, that is now being forced into her eyes yet again) and the spell did work! Too bad about its side affects, but oh well, every spell had its tweaks. It was still worth it to cast. -J
Though the teen was getting used to the burning sensations the bottle in Aneko's hand left in her eyes, the patient couldn't help but clench her hands into fists, readying her body for the next assault. However, one of her hands lost some of its tension, when something smooth and warm enveloped it.
If Jade could've looked down, she would have seen the larger hand of the only other person in the back of the ambulance lightly grasp hers in a comforting gesture. But since she was currently being forced to endure another set of eye drops, she didn't see the friendly supporting gesture. Yet, it should be noted that this kind act didn't go unnoticed.
Like a small grape vine budding in the warmth of the sun, a far off look grew in the eyes of a certain boy. Looking on as his houseguest set her jaw firm for the next stinging application from Mrs.Aneko's bottle, the distant look faded a little as he couldn't help but admire the girl's will.
K- She is so strong to be able to cope with this entire ordeal. Most girls would have already had a nervous breakdown.-K
Before replying Youko took a small sniff, as if to say to his counterpart that his comment was absolutely obvious.
Youko- Crying is for the weak Kurama. Jade is not weak.-Youko
Yokuo's tone caused a tiny mental smile to form, as Kurama plainly saw that the aged demon had become attracted and defensive over a human girl in the short period of time that she had stayed in their world.
K-I see her spell impressed you.-K
Youko- I was impressed, as you were too. Her abilities are part of what makes her such a treasure.
(Youko, sensing a protest over the words just used, more specifically "treasure" about to come out from Shuuichi, continued.)
Yokuo- Do not lie. She is quite a jewel. Whether you admit it to yourself or not, I already know the true value of what I see. And I Really like what I see. -Youko
A mental groan rises from his human half; Kurama really couldn't take any more of Yokuo's comments regarding a certain chi wizard. So, to take a break from this trying conversation, the redhead allowed himself to drift back to the moments before that led up to Jade's torture with a bottle of anti-infection spray.
-Flashback-
-The forbidden Spell-
Knowing they only had seconds to think up of a plan, Jade chewed the bottom of her lip, her mind racing on what to do next. Sitting on the examining table (the thing they have in both the doctor's & nurse's office at school, its like a bed and they make u sit/lay on it to check if your ok. It has this white paper sheet that covers it. I hope you guys get what I'm describing here) with his back hunched over, Kurama bent his head and he too tried to find a solution. But unlike Jade who could spend all her attention on the task at hand, he had to deal with the distraction of having an active demon inside of him. And that extra personality wasn't exactly concentrating on finding an answer to the current problem.
Youko- Someone will pay for this. -Youko commented as he looks at Jade's new and already ruined uniform, out of the corner of an amberish & greenish eye. Pictures of what should happen to the one who had tried to hurt Jade flashed in Kurama's and Youko's shared mind. Youko could be very vengeful when he wanted to.
K-Youko, you know that is impossible and it was most likely a human. We can not kill a human.-K Sighing, the redhead clenched and unclenched his fists. He too felt the desire for revenge, but it would have to wait, for now.
Youko- Kurama, we can not let this incident slide. And I did not say to kill the culprit, I advise slow torture. –Youko says, smirking at his unpleasant thoughts.
K-I agree that something must be done to insure this will never happen again. Demo, we differ on how to remedy this problem. Do you not think that we should first find a way to hide Jade's powers before every student and faculty member becomes suspicious?-K
Youko, with an incontent growl, that vibrated the walls of Kurama's mind, blinked his amber eyes and let his shoulders relax. A sign that meant, he had agreed with the half demon's statement.
Youko- For now.- Youko stated.
The corner of Kurama's mouth turned down as he recognized Youko's tone of voice. The fox demon had always used it when the host and demon had disagreed. In these situations where such a tone was used, Youko gave into the Kurama's / Shuichhi's wishes at first. But later on through the skillful art of manipulation and the use of centuries of old wisdom and experience, Youko won out in the end.
It took some self-control on his part not to berate his other half for his less than co-operative behavior. Kurama didn't want to worry over what Youko would try to do once his defenses went down. The red head was sincerely hoping that a repeat of last night would not be happening again. He was simply relieved that no one, especially this room's other occupant, had noticed what had passed beneath yesterday night's full moon. The image of what had happened put Kurama straight into blushing mode.
"Are you alright?"-Jade asked, noticing that her host had turned his hair color and for no apparent reason.
Fingering his collar, he smiled at her and said, "Yes, I'm fine. But have you thought up of what to do yet?"
A bright smile spread across her face and her gold eyes lighted up.
"Of course!"- she clapped her hands in excitement. "I'm so happy that this happened or else I would really have no use for this spell and Uncle said he'd ground me for life if I ever used it again." Here she smiled, and said "But what he doesn't know, won't hurt him. Right?"
Her eyes rested on Kurama wanting his opinion, but instead of a nod of approval, there was a small frown of growing uneasiness.
"Why would your Uncle forbid you to cast this spell?"
If it had been spring, the chirps of crickets would have been heard. However, it wasn't spring, there were no crickets and the resulting silence between a stern redhead and a fidgeting girl was deafening.
This is how Jade looks like: -- and she's shuffling her feet against the shiny blue tiled floor of the nurse's office.
"Jade?"
Kurama's no-nonsense tone of voice reminded the one being questioned of her uncle Jackie and his usual disapproval over her impulsive actions. The way this single word was uttered also caused the hair on the back of the girl's neck to rise. It was slightly deeper and more echoic than normal, as if two voices were speaking at the same time. But knowing that she had better things to concentrate on, the girl decided to add this oddity to the list of things to question Youko/ Kurama about latter.
"Umm, he had his reasons, but don't worry." She smiled and waved her hands to calm the over reactive kitsune.
The frown only deepened. And a mini glare of distrust was added.
Rubbing a hand on the back of her head, Jade started to feel like she was being interrogated. She hated that feeling and decided to put an end to her discomfort.
"Well, do you have any ideas on how to trick everyone into believing that I'm dying from pain right now?"
"Not at this moment, but..."
But before he could finish his sentence Jade said "Great! Now move back a little, I wouldn't want you to get in the way."
And here the petite Asian girl pushed the red head a few more inches back with a simple blink of her golden eyes, utilizing the rooster talisman power that she now had in her. Taken by surprise, Kurama and Youko could only watch as a barrier was created and cut them off from Jade.
An index finger lightly pressed against the glowing blue shield and this ex-thief decided he could get through but didn't want to risk the danger of interrupting a spell being casted. So, all they could do was lean back and watch.
My wish, my will is to be seen with this image in my mind
Gone is the face, and body in the mirror
In its place
an illusion
Like my own,
But different
Now bearing scars
of acid and pain
Along my eyes, focus this chimera
And make others see what I want them to see.
She repeated this, switching from English, to Russian and Dutch. After each repetition her spirit energy would rise, as if it were being summoned and she began to shape it into folds, like a veil being draped across her whole body.
A delicate red eyebrow is raised; neither side of the fox had known that Jade knew how to manipulate her chi and what was the reason why her uncles didn't want her to perform this spell again? Knowing Jade, there probably was a very good reason that led to this ban on this particular spell. But then again, Jade was no pushover when it came to anything. She was practicing magic before she even reached 4 feet in height, Kurama trusted her to know the consequences of her actions. But he couldn't deny the fact that Jade would overlook dire consequences if she felt the need to act.
His lips began to turn into a small frown yet again. He sincerely hoped that nothing too drastic and regretful would happen.
For this spell was like none other that this 1,000 plus ( how old is Youko? Well, in this story he's older than 1,000) fox had seen before. Even though he was no expert in chi magic, he at least knew that chi magic usually meant using one's own energy to help boost the power and effects of spells that the wizard casts. ( made that up)
And he had thought that chi wizards only practiced Chinese magic, not a mixture of European magic. For what Jade had just done, was definitely of European origin. If the three languages that the spell was cast in was not a big enough clue, the pentagram that Jade was now drawing in the air, with her finger, was a symbol of Western magic.
With her index finger that glowed softly from her concentrated chi, Jade drew out the pentagram into the air in front of her. It was big enough for her to walk through, which was the point. She shivered slightly, remembering the uncomfortable feeling of walking through the floating shape that she had created. It was as if for a few seconds that she stopped breathing and a layer of tight plastic energy went around her entire body, giving a more defined shape to the veils of chi that Jade had drawn around her beforehand. The purpose of the pentagram was to hold in place the chi veils that flowed softly around her.
J- Well, might as well stop stalling and get it over with. –J
So, with a big intake of air, she closed her eyes and walked through the highly magically charged figure.
Tensing his muscles as the blue barrier faded away, Kurama walked the small distance that had separated him from Jade. Standing in front of the girl as she completed the last few steps of her spell, he was pretty surprised as she stumbled the first few steps she took. But to his disappointment, the agile Jade caught herself before she fell and before Kurama could get a chance to catch her in his arms. What also shocked him besides her initial & unusual awkwardness was the state of her face.
Instead of the youthful and in his opinion flawless face ( if she only knew what he was thinking....i wonder what she would do hehehe) was the countenance of a disaster survivor.
Shiny and bloody, Kurama could not help but make a sharp and small gasp. The redhead had expected to see an illusion, but even he was rather impressed that Jade nailed down the tiniest of details to make the magical disguise seem all the more real.
Not an inch of skin surrounding her eyes was spared from the effects of the detrimental chemical, and her eyes, her once golden eyes were in a gruesome mess. Looking into them, Kurama had to remind himself that he was looking into an illusion, but the repetition of this fact didn't stop the small tremble in his hands or the increase of the speed of his heart. Youko remained silent, blocking all his emotions from his other half.
Red, red was the only color left in her eyes. Only red and shades of red remained, where there once was the brilliant color of gold. As her scorched eyelids came down when she blinked, a trickle of imaginary blood trailed down her smooth cheek.
Lifting a finger, he caught the bead of blood and again Jade's skills as a wizard surpassed his expectations. Not only could he see it, but Kurama heard it drop off her cheek onto his waiting finger, he felt the blood on his fingertip and even smelled it.
His sensitive nose picked up the unique tang of freshly spilled blood. The scent only a seasoned warrior or surgeon would have recognized, ran through the space of the room with a speed not unlike the rapid spread of disease and maladies, permeating to every corner of the room. The kitsune grimaced as he inhaled the distinctive odor of a recent flesh wound opened to the air.
Biting her lips, Jade asks: "Do you think this is realistic enough?" The scared remains of her bright eyes swept the room, looking for a mirror to inspect her handy work.
To answer, he leaned his face so close to hers that their noses touched. And as expected the spirited and anti-touching-with-guys-and-especially-demons girl frowned. But sadly before she could let out a scathing remark that would have been full of Jade-like attitude, the demon put a finger to her mouth, making a shhssshing noise at the same time. Shining with annoyance, Jade's eyes glared up at him. But as she looked into his eyes, she wasn't prepared for what was in those dark green/ amber pools.
Guilt and fear ran rampant through the bi-color eyes. But for her life, she couldn't understand why.
Youko- There are more humans coming. We'd best do our part, as Jade has played hers out so very well. – Youko
K-Agreed-K
And without any warning or hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her waist and with one swift motion, got her into his arms bridal style. Surprised, Jade could only blink for a moment, but that moment passed very quickly. Before the beginnings of what sounded like: "What the hel..?!!" parted her lips, a ripping sound was heard and she found a red jagged cloth draped across her eyes and being pressed down rather firmly.
"What gives?!"
In a whisper, "Hush, Jade." Those were the words that Kurama could say as the door to the room they were in was thrown open by a frantic Misako and some fellow high school students.
Misako- "Minamino-san! Is Jade...?"
The question stopped before it was even made, for according to the worried girl's eyes and duller human sense of smell, the fabric that Jade was now pressing into her eyes, was red not only because it was dyed that way, but because the red of blood had completely drenched it through.
Misako had to swallow a scream, but while she was regaining her composure, Kurama posed a very important question.
"Has the ambulance arrived yet?"
"Yes."- the other exchange student replied a bit breathily, for it was the first time that she had seen so much blood outside of her nightmares.
"Its at the main entrance right now." –the other students chorus in, saying that he should hurry.
Nodding his thanks, the boy speeds down the hall, ready to face whatever was coming next. He was not looking forward to dozens of questions about how this had happened and all the paperwork that would follow. But for the girl in his arms and to lessen the painful guilt growing in his heart, he would do it all.
Scene change within a flashback- (is that even allowed?) In the ambulance
"Oh, dear! You poor girl. Sit right down and you back there. Are you her boyfriend?"
Aneko asked. She hadn't flinched at the sight of Jade's wounds nor had she hesitated to begin a rapid cleaning of them. Instead, with the skill that only comes to the experienced, the wise grandmother of three pursed her lips and started to cleanse her charge's injuries.
A blushing Kurama: "Annoo, ummm...." --;
Youko- She will be soon enough-Youko
K-Sigh, you never give up do you?-K
Youko: mental smirking ( don't you think he's so nice to look at when he smirks : ) )
"He definitely is Not in any way romantically involved with me."
J- Nor will he ever be! The day I will ever date a demon, knowingly and voluntarily is the day pigs fly. –J
"Why would it matter if he was?"
Though a little bit taken back by Jade's clear out denial and the fact that she was even able to talk right after having her eyes practically scorched out, the EMT replied: "No one but family and girlfriends/boyfriends are allowed to accompany the emergency patient in an ambulance."
"I'm here host while she's in Japan. She has no one else here."
"Ok then I guess you better stick to her."
"Don't worry. I won't let Jade out of my sight again."- The redhead promises to the EMT in a serious voice showing he meant it.
J- That's what I'm afraid of. ;p –J
"Mmm-hmm" Clearly, Aneko wasn't really paying attention to what he just said, for she just began examining Jade's injuries with a critical and experienced eye. Frowning at what she found, Mrs. Higurashi put all her attention on her patient. Allowing Kurama to watch in silence, well temporary silence as Youko just didn't feel like leaving his human side any time to be alone.
-End flashback-
"OOOYYYY! I need some help here!"- Yusuke yelled as his patience for today had ran out. It was just his luck that he chose to come here when there seemed to be some emergency from another high school, a fire and a series of car crashes. The entrance that he came through led him to a hallway crowded with people and some survivors from the different disasters. .
After waiting for 5 seconds, Yusuke's eyes twitched. No one noticed him. Doctors and nurses were running around, all intent in the care for their own patients. And yet, here was Keiko still suffering on his back. Sure she wasn't bleeding or burnt all over, or as he glanced around again, scorched with acid, but she was Keiko and She was hurt. So, he grabbed the nearest person in a lab coat wearing a stethoscope and got him to help Keiko.
A few well chosen words, a practiced glare that would make Hiei proud and some threatening gestures got the message across as the nervous doctor pointed the angry teen toward the East wing, 4th floor, where they treated minor injuries and had the specialist doctors. The doctor also took the time to inform Yusuke who was currently sprinting away in an Easternly direction that this section was the ER and doctors do not have time to deal with non-life threatening cases like that a mere twisted ankle.
It was a good thing Yusuke was not paying attention to the attitude the young doctor was giving him.
But ever the good girl, Keiko yelled out a quick "Arigatou!"- to the doctor as Yusuke carried her to be treated. Craning her head back to see the kind doctor (who was still readjusting his tie and getting over the fact that someone that scrawny looking could actually posses such a strong grip) one last time, and then she saw a flash of red; red hair to be exact. But it was only for a second before a doctor and some nurses crowded around a new ambulance arrival, blocking her view.
Keiko- "Kurama?"- she whispered this question to herself, unsure if that was indeed his red hair. She shook her head, what were the odds that Kurama would be here? But then again, what were the odds of someone else having the same exact crimson hair color as her fox friend's.
Sighing, Keiko turned her attention back to her boyfriend as he decided not to wait for the elevator and ran up the stairs instead. He knew that it would take forever for the elevator to get to him and he trusted his speed to be faster than the said machine.
These are nurses, shouldn't they know not to crowd around?
Youko shrugged: We always have that effect on humans, especially the women. I guess they can't help but to be attracted to us. -Youko said nonchalantly, not at all disturbed by the showers of attention these humans were giving to them.
Muttering and shaking his head, kurama wondered at how self-centered kitsunes could be at times.
Whereas Youko in a cooly says: "I was merely stating the truth." Earning him a weak smile from Kurama.
While Kurama was off talking to his other half, Jade was being poked and prodded by the hospital's staff. Since she was still play acting, with a part of Shuuichi's school uniform draped across her eyes, she couldn't see much. Add in the fact that all the doctors were speaking in Japanese and in such frantic tones of voice, Jade couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
J- sigh, and yet another reason why I had better start cracking at some translation books. -J
But ever loving to play the role of the knight, in this case, kitsune in shining armor, Kurama came to the rescue. And this time, Jade had no complaints.
Speaking in Japanese kurama got rid of the nurses who were unnecessarily close to him.
But seeing that these nurses were young and obviously not blind to the fact that he was a total hottie, their reaction to seeing him was a natural response.
Youko smiles, as his earlier comment was just proven to be very true.
The nurses kept inquiring if Kurama was hurt in any way; they were concerned because he just came out of an ambulance. And wanting to make sure that all patients in the hospital got the best of care, all of the nurses surrounding the young high schooler immediately volunteered to watch over him personally.
He sweat-dropped with uneasiness, but valiantly maintained his cool under the lustful gazes of the college-age nurses, who all were wearing obscenely short skirts as part of their uniforms. With the skill of a veteran diplomat, Kurama got himself out of the pack of grasping young women and to the side of Jade, who was still a little bit disconcerted about the language barrier thing.
Kurama inquired as to why Jade had not been immediately rushed into an examining room and frowned a little after he was answered.
It seemed that today was a very bad day, the hospital was overflowing and at that moment there was no more rooms available at least not in the ER section. It was just very unlucky to have 3 major accidents all within the same hour of each other and all leaving people with serious injuries.
"Demo, isn't there any other room to get Jade treated? Any where else in thi senitre hospital?"-His desperate way of speaking would have rivaled Jade's stellar acting skills, for they got the response he was hoping for.
'You are right. This girl must see a qualified specialist immediately, Dr. Yasuo (name means peaceful one) there is nothing else anyone on the ER floor can do for her anyway."- The doctor answers, after taking a look at Jade for himself, completely falling under the illusion.
"Yes, but where would that be?"
"East wing, 4th floor."
A quick arigatou was made before kurama pulled Jade along into an elevator, up to the 4th floor.
"Kurama, where are we going?"
"To the 4th floor." He answered, and as the girl made a motion to remove the fabric that she covered her eyes, he stopped her.
"I think it would be wise to leave that on, at least until we can find this Dr.Yasuo."
"'K then." Leaning on her heels, and just beginning to enjoy the elevator ride Jade was not that happy when they reached their destination.
"Take my hand."
J- Like I have much of a choice-J She didn't really delight in the prospect of walking around blind and bumping into people & things.
So, taking his hand, they went off in search of this Dr.Yasuo.
It only took a few minutes before the said doctor stopped them himself, asking why they were loitering in a hospital.
Jade not knowing what he was asking, quirked up and tried to understand the dialogue between the two males. Though she had assumed Japanese would be similar to Chinese, it was hard to comprehend what was going on.
Dr.Yasuo: "What are you doing here wandering in the hallways?"
After taking a glance at his name-tag, Kurama felt a bit relieved, it was almost over.
"Excuse me, but this girl really needs your help." And Kurama launched into an explanation of how through an accident at school jade was injured, and how due to overcrowding they had been sent up here for Dr.Yasuo's expert care.
The doctor nodded in understanding and wasted no more time in talking. He led them to his office, where after an hour of assessment and medical tests, declared that though Jade had suffered a mighty shock, she would remarked ably fully recover.
But, but she would have to stay over night just in case, and her recovery would take place over a period of at least a month, if she was lucky. Medication is to be applied on her eyes, and taken daily. And one more thing, she'll have to always have bandages on her eyes for that whole month and for the next month she wont be able to go any where without proper eye-wear. Translation, sunglasses are a necessity.
Jade was given a room to stay in overnight and she wasn't very happy at that prospect, nor was she thrilled about the whole being bandaged up for a whole month. But, she was oddly tired and did not have the energy to complain.
Yawning, she was led to her room by a kind elderly nurse and helped to change into a hospital gown. (Those things are so funny looking!)Kurama frowned as the nurse shut the door in front of his face, completely ignoring his wishes of staying with the girl. But hey the old woman was very stern on the fact that he was not to be any where near the vicinity when a female is changing clothes.
"So, scoot!"-she had yelled at him.
So rather than fight a useless battle, Kurama memorized Jade's room number and decided that he needed some fresh air.
Rooftop:
On the top of the hospital, Kurama looked down at the city, lost in his own thoughts until he sensed another demon's presence, an ice demon to be exact.
"Touya, what brings you here?"
"A message from Koenma, that concerns both you and Jade"
Curious, Kurama looked into his blue eyes and waited, not even having to voice the unsaid question.
"He wants you to teach Jade in learning how to hide her spirit energy."
"I see. Well, that shouldn't be too hard... She is a fast learner when she puts her mind to it... Matte! I am not sure if this will meet her approval."
For as he had just finished his job, Touya was about to take his leave.
"Douste?" -(Why in Japanese.)
"Well, she still doesn't completely trust me, and she does not like Youko."
Youko- I head that Kurama. And I'll be working on it, with your help of course.
If he hadn't been so concentrating on talking to Touya, Kurama would have anime falled at the stubbornness of Youko's pursuit.
"You two seem very close together already."- His tone was guarded, and his eyes closed.
"Trust me, she does not see us as friends, let alone a teacher."
Touya's eyes opened to look at Kurama closely. He said in a cold indifferent voice: "Then why is her scent all over you?" a note of accusation created by this question hung in the air, raising the tension level.
Kurama averted his eyes from Touya's blue ones.
This one action supported the ice demon's growing suspicions.
Kurama was secretly proud that at least he had managed to keep his face as calm as possible without blushing in front of the oddly behaving ice demon.
(Kurama thought to himself, that he had blushed more times these past 24 hours than he had in his entire 16 years of life and including Youko's.)
Keeping a composed and serene outer appearance was a feat that was made harder to do because Youko took the opportunity to run through his mind what exactly happened on Jade's first stay in their world.
-Flashback- (wow, there are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter, is it getting confusing?)
After making sure that Kurama had taken care of the shivering Jade, Youko receded into the depths of Kurama's mind to think. And tonight's agenda was: How to get a certain stubborn chi wizard to like him, well more than like, adore him. This was going to be harder to do than Youko had first thought it would be. For as with any problem, the thief demon recalled from memory all he knew about the task at hand, and this time the subject was chi wizards.
Chi wizards in this world were more commonly known as demon hunters and dark arts executioners. Basically to the humans, they were the good guys. To the demons, chi wizards were humans that you generally avoided or tried to avoid and the consequences of meeting one was usually death. But lucky for the demons, there weren't that many chi wizards around. There were very very few hereditary families that were all chi wizards, and they were pretty ruthless when it came to dealing with demons. Chi wizard here, were definitely not weaklings.
Demo ( Japanese word for but), the chi wizards of Jade's world seem to be even stronger than those in this world. After all, you can't be a wimp if you've defeated the 9 immortal demons that took over the planet. And don't forget to mention the fact that those demons had to defeat all the other demons and evildoers to get at the top. The 9 immortal demons (was it 9? Was Shendu and his siblings immortal?) practically drove every other demon species and weaker demonic subspecies (for example, vampires and werewolves) that weren't part of their family into extinction.
So, Youko decided, the best and safest way to win a chi wizard's heart is to earn her trust and start from there. Plus, make sure you do nothing to provoke such a chi wizard into trying to kill you. ( Following, is probably not true according to the anime YYH )
He still remembered the strength and hatred emanating from the chi wizard that had forced him to seek refuge in a human body. A tiny malicious smile formed on the fox demon's lip, for he remembered that day very well. That particular chi wizard had been the strongest ever in this world and had earned a reputation as the Executioner. He had tracked the fox demon Youko Kurama for many months and had every intention to put an end to Youko's thievery. By getting rid of Youko he would also be enhancing his reputation among demons. Soon, all demons would have quaked at the mere mention of this chi wizard's name, Fai Chao Sheng ( Chinese names means brilliant light, great one, and victory)
Youko's tenacious opponent had succeeded in greatly weakening the infamous demon to such an extent that his spirit had been driven to find a new body. However, Youko was still alive, while the wizard had died. The strain of his fight against Youko and the drain of complex spells had killed the willful wizard.
But back to the matter at hand, befriending Jade. Yet, the idea of becoming friends with Jade was not very appealing and to do that would take quite a long time; since everyone with eyes or ears would already know that Jade wasn't very into the idea of becoming friends with a demon. And time was as cliché as it sounded, of the essence. There really was no telling when Jade's uncles would come to her rescue.
Stopping in mid thought, Youko didn't quite agree at his own choice of words. Rescue? From who? He certainly meant no harm to her. Well, not the usual, "I'm a demon and you're a human so bow down or I will kill/eat you" kind of harm. But rather "Let's get to know each other and as soon as possible go straight into dating. Oh and do ignore the warning bells sounding off in your head and the advice of your demon-hating family." That kind of attitude wasn't harmful, but Youko was pretty sure that her over-reactive uncles would stop at nothing to get Jade back and they would redouble their efforts, once they found out that their dear little Jade Chan had gained a demon admirer.
Youko- Hhhhhmmmmm, all the more reason to hasten his already obvious approaches and try to gain her trust.-Youko
Youko- Demo, the trusting part I can start working on tomorrow.- (Insert evil grin by Youko) Youko thought to himself as he felt his other half fall deep asleep. Smiling and flashing his fangs in the blackness of Kurama's sleeping mind Youko began to activate the little charm he had placed around Jade's neck.
In the room across the hall, the shadows of the night that had claimed the area surrounding a sleeping petite figure receded as an otherworldly light blazed from the occupant's neck. A twin flame shined from across the hall, as the boy with locks of crimson slowly sat upright on his bed. He took a necklace out from a chest pocket and smiled. Truth be told, he had never used this kind of tactic before, but he had already calculated all the risks involved and decided that in the end, everything would fall in place exactly the way he wanted it to be.
So, as he slid across the hall to the open door of his guest, stepped into the room and leaned against the wall, he knew exactly what he was doing. Part of him couldn't wait until his human side found out what he was about to do. Kurama's shocked face would be priceless.
Chuckling, he shifted into his fox form, and elegantly jumped onto the soft bed. He curled next to her, and promptly joined her in their shared dream.
-Fast forward a few hours-
As Jade and Youko were sleeping both in their dreams and in reality, a third party was just awakening.
Like soft caresses from a lover's hand, the warm rays of the morning sun washed over a certain young man awakening him from his pleasant slumber. Yawning, he stretched his limbs, but as he arched his back something did not feel right.
A question mark hung in the air, as the sleepy eyed Kurama just noticed that he had nine tails attached to him at that moment.
K-Fox form? But why?-K
Still wondering, Kurama willed his body to shift back to his human form. Running a hand through his bed tousled red locks, the teen really wanted to talk to his other half. Neither could change into their fox shape without consciously doing so. Therefore, if Kurama hadn't changed shape, then it was Youko who forced the change of appearance onto both of them. And knowing the sly demon, he probably did it while Kurama was sleeping. But a question was still left unanswered. Why?
And then the answer presented itself to Kurama, in the form of a small arm that placed itself around his waist. His heart practically stopped when he finally grasped whose arm and now whose face was pressed against his back.
Here is the exact order in which the shocked young man's face changed as realization dawned upon him: K-Nani? A arm?-K As he looked down toward his waist:
0.o ??? 0.0! o"#$?(&!!!!!"
Without delay, Kurama ran through the 4step process of denial.
First, he was confused, then he could only look down at the arm, questions of how in the world can this be happening blowing like a tornado in his head. In the third step, his eyes became like wide green tennis balls, a part of his mind wishing that this were only a dream. The final step is characterized by: complete acceptance, a small nosebleed from the immense shock, dazed eyes and then the release of anger through very well chosen words aimed at another person to blame. The one, who goes through this process, might also run away while undergoing any of these steps, so as to avoid reality.
The poor traumatized teen, rolled off the bed, hit his head on the corner of a nightstand (but he didn't even notice) and standing on one foot, his arms in the classic taken aback pose with his fingers twitching, he continued to gape for a few seconds like a fish out of water. The impulse to run kicked in when the still sleeping girl yawned and half opened her eyes, noticing that a large portion of warmth was not with her.
He froze and stopped breathing for few seconds until the girl closed her sleepy eyes, completely not noticing her host was in the same room.
Without further ado, Kurama ran like the wind back to his own room, quietly closed the door and quickly sank down to the floor, his head in his hands.
"Kami-sama! Youko! What is the meaning of this?!"
Evil, sadistic and pure laughing at Kurama's expense rang in his head.
Youko had rather enjoyed watching Kurama's response, and his human half had done exactly what he had expected. That look on his face was priceless. Too bad Youko didn't have a camera to capture the moment.
Youko- Why Kurama whatever do you mean?-Youko . . (hehehe)
K- When she finds out!-K
Youko- I would just love to see what she'll do to you when you tell her.-Youko
No words could express the feelings of immense annoyance and exasperation that the red head was feeling toward the silver haired fox.
Youko- Exactly-Youko knew that Kurama wouldn't want to tell their houseguest what his demon half had done.
K-Were you planning this ever since she came into our world? You went into her dream didn't you? That is an invasion of privacy, Youko. And isn't our room close enough to her to let the dreamer's rose work?-K
Youko- Yes. For the best results, closer is better.-Youko
He completely ignored the point that it was an invasion of privacy.
K-This is not over Youko.-K
Kurama ended the conversation because just then his alarm clock began to ring; it was time to start the day, and fox demons chatting in your head, are not welcome. Sighing, Kurama sincerely hoped that Youko would behave himself for the remainder of the day.
-End Flashback-
(back with Touya on the roof)
Taking a deep breath, Kurama calmed himself, willing Youko to stop reminiscing and distracting him from dealing with Touya. But before the tension level could rise any further, another person stepped onto the roof.
"Fancy bumping into you guys up here."
"Yusuke."- Kurama
"What'cha guys doing here?"
"I have to be going. Remember what Koenma wants you to do Kurama."- With that said, Touya jumped off the roof and disappeared amongst the roof tops of Tokyo.
Silently glad that Touya was leaving and therefore not grilling him with those silent blue eyes, Kurama greeted Yusuke with a smile.
"He was sent to tell me to train Jade."
"Hhmpphh, figures. I can sense exactly where she is right now. You have your work cut out for you, Kurama."
"Yes, I know. But why are you here?"
"Some jerks roughed up Keiko, and she twisted her ankle. So, here I am."
"I see. Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's fine. Hey, why would Touya need to tell that to you on top of a hospital?"
"Jade like Keiko, was 'roughed up' by someone, and hence I accompanied her here."
"Feh, I didn't think that she would let anyone do that to her."
"She was taken by surprise and in front of many people. So, she could do nothing but play the part of damsel in distress."
Shrugging, Yusuke understands, and says apologetically, "I gotta be going. Keiko's parents want me to walk her home. C'ya"
"Goodbye."
For a few more minutes, Kurama stood on the roof and enjoyed the silence. As a soft gust of wind blew his hair, he gracefully put the playful strand of hair back in place behind his ear and made his way, hands in pockets, back to Jade to tell her the good news.
Her joyous reaction was plain and simple: "What?! I never agreed to that! I do not, and I repeat do not want a demon as my sensei!!"
A bit hurt but not surprised by her outburst of chi wizard pride, Kurama tried to get her to understand.
"Jade, the longer you remain untrained the more attention you will attract. This world is full of demons, some possibly stronger than those that you have already faced."
"I can defend myself Kurama."
"I know Jade, but it would be best and safer if you would just try to.."
Before he could finish his sentence, a pillow was thrown into his direction. Catching it easily, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile. Jade was such a child sometimes.
"NO means no, Kurama. Its as simple as that." She said facing him, even though she couldn't see him. A nurse was kind enough to bandage her eyes, completely blindfolding her. So, only by her ears alone, did she have a clue as to where Kurama was standing, an easy target to hit with the hospital pillow.
K-This is going to take a long time.-K
Youko- Probably. What else is to be expected from Jade-kun- Youko
K-kun?-K
END
Finally!!! This took me forever to type! Thanku, all you great reviewers who kept on reviewing wven though I haven't updated in ages!! Thankyou, thankyou. : )
Oh and by the way I would answer your review questions, that is if you had any, but my fingers are hurting. Yup, hurting a lot right now. But I do remember someone asking why are my chapters so long. Hehe, I think you all know the answer to that one now. I take forever to update! So, I put a lot of stuff into one chapter.
And way way way back, someone asked, what was up with Touya and Jade. - I'm not saying! ;p