Please note--my strategy for updating depends on my inspiration. As you all know, I have two rather successful fictions on (this and TGIAG--I'm debating starting them on ), as well as many I write on the sides (some will be posted as soon as I get enough written). When I'm inspired for a fic, I tend to focus more on that one...I'll try to write more on the others, but the inspired one is the one I'll work on most. And since I'm inspired, that either means it increases my backup of chapters (for times when I'm uninspired...the Tournament comes out as I write it, so there aren't any backups there. I probably should make some...) or the amount of updates. You're in luck; I'm inspired for this fic and TGIAG at the moment (and as soon as I open another one, I'll be inspired there too I bet), so guess what that means?
UPDATES!!! As many as I can crank out at as reasonable a pace I can take! I'm sure you woulnd't like it if I just threw out three chapters a day, now would you?
Review Responses:
Dragonflyr: Good luck! I recieved your submissions...they were very good! Feel free to do more! n.n Glad you like this fic!
CHIPMUNK1: Well, let's just say Hiei's being very agreeable these days. n.n Maybe there's some ulterior motives...hmm...maybe he's being blackmailed...but let's stick with your reason because I'm too lazy to come up with one. I just write it as I imagine it (and oftentimes it gets crazy around here. But you know that).
TonyDiMerasbedroomslave aka Tonysbedroomslave: n.n How's this for sooner? I can only hope Arashi-chan follows suit with the Counselors...but since you got such a big edition from her last time, I don't know how long you'll have to wait...hopefully not long!
shadowcat241: Thanks for reviewing! n.n I wuv you and all the reviewers! ((shies away from pointy objects)) ((sigh)) So many people like to threaten me these days...guess I'll just have to update sooner! ...with lots more cliffies to keep you all interested and reviewing! n.n
aqua-flames: I thought I was dreaming too! n.n Writer's Block stinks...thank goodness for inspiration! ((starts singing corny song about inspiration)) Inspiraatiiiiiiion....it's inspirational! n.n Lalalalalaaaaaaa...lalalaLAlala! I'm running out...of words to sing about! So you could say...I'm uninspired-al! n.n
GryphonChild: n.n Tournament writers unite! I was entertained by your chapter too! You should update...I can't wait to see what else happens! (PS to anybody reading this who's not GryphonChild: GO READ HER TOURNAMENT!! It's GREAT!!)
Saria19: I'm going to wait to answer your questions until I update TGIAG, okay? Thanks for submitting them, but if it wouldn't let you do a review there you could always try annonymous...or on a different chapter...
Now, on to the fic! n.n
Chapter Nineteen: ThumpTHUMP
"They're all asleep," Botan said, shutting the door quietly behind her and Keiko, "All three of them."
"That's a relief," Yusuke said, slumping down on the sofa.
After reporting the damage to their room, the team had moved into the girls' room (meaning Shizuru, Keiko, Botan, and Yukina's room). Sleeping arrangments had been tough to work out, considering there were eleven of them and only four beds (two per each of the bedrooms), but they thought they had it figured out.
"I thought they were never going to stop arguing over the beds," Kuwabara sighed. "How'd it work out?"
"Go in and see for yourself," Keiko laughed quietly.
"Later," Kuwabara shrugged before turning to Yukina, "Thanks for healing us, sweetums."
"I'm happy to help," Yukina said, giving a little half bow in her seat.
"Yes, with any luck they'll be much better tomorrow," Kurama added (he'd been very slowly turning human for the past half hour--at the moment, he still had Yoko's ears and tail, but his hair was an odd mixture of red and silver, and his eyes were back to their normal green. His personality was back, too, although when he spoke it was as if it was Yoko speaking, with an undertone of Shuichi). Having helped to treat the injuries himself, he could offer his advice. "Arashi will be tired tomorrow--she used up practically all of her energy--Kozu will probably be a bit disoriented and Niyali won't be doing much until her wrist heals, which should only take a day or two more. But other than that, perfectly fine."
"Great, so we're probably going to be carrying two of them out the door," Hiei mumbled, "Wonderful." (He was still upset because his ability to move hadn't come back as quickly as he'd like.)
"Hey, it could be worse," Yusuke said, absentmindedly scracthing his healed arm (Yukina had helped him, too). "Kuwabara could've gotten hurt, and then we'd be dragging him."
"Can it, Urameshi, I can drag myself just fine." Kuwabara was rather proud of the fact the only injuries he'd obtained were "minor scratches", compared to what everybody else had.
"I still can't believe somebody would be insane enough to send some ugly brutes after you!" Botan exclaimed, "Who would do something so unsportsmanlike?"
"This isn't the first attempt they've made to sabotage our team." One of Kurama's ears twitched. "You remember Kozu and Niyali were trapped beneath the arena--I have a feeling they didn't get there by accident. Somebody would have had to put the boulder there to keep them from escaping."
"Woah, are you saying that somebody deliberately tried to kill them?" Yusuke didn't believe his ears.
"And the four of you, by sending those men to attack you after you'd all been tired out from fighting." He frowned. "If my assumptions are correct, then somebody's trying to stop us from reaching the finals. The entire team may be in serious danger."
"But who--"
Thump.
"--what was that?" Botan quickly changed what she was going to say.
Thump THUMP.
"It's coming from the girls room!" Kuwabara exclaimed, rising to his feet in alarm just as not-so-whispered voices reached their ears.
"Shhh!"
"You'll wake them up!"
"They're not asleep yet."
"How do you know?"
"'Cause I heard them talking."
"It's just the girls," Yusuke said, relaxing in his seat, "No need to panic."
"Yes, but do you know what they're doing?" Shizuru pointed out.
ThumpthumpCRASH.
"Oh, now look what you did!"
"I'm sorry! Arashi-chan, are you alright?" Silence. "Arashi-chaaaan!"
"Should we check on them, d'you think?" Yusuke asked, supressing a yawn.
"I'll do it," Botan offered. She headed over to the door that seperated the girls room from the main room and knocked. "Girls? Is everything all right?"
"Oh great, we woke them up!"
"I told you, they weren't asleep yet!"
"What do we do?" (Arashi seemed to have recovered from whatever had happened.)
"Don't answer. Maybe she'll go away."
"Girls?" Botan started to turn the doorknob, and they listened as half-whispered panic broke out.
"Crap, she's coming in!"
"Kozu! Language!"
"No time for language! Quick, get in bed!"
"But the bed's--"
"Oh yeah. Um..." There were sounds of something scraping along the floor--something heavy. Botan let out a gasp of disbelief.
"The door won't open!"
:::
Inside the room (and back a little in time)
:::
"You take the bed!"
"No, you take it! You got bonked on the head twice, you need it more than I do!"
"You were almost strangled to death! How can you say you don't need a bed?!"
"Girls, please!" Keiko tried to intervene, "Is it worth this much of an argument?"
"YES!" Niyali and Kozu shouted back, as they pointed to the other person, "SHE'S MORE HURT THAN I AM!"
"How about you both take the beds?" Arashi suggested, "I can sleep on the flo--"
"NO!"
"Kozu, why don't you just take the bed?" Botan sighed, to try to end the argument, "Niyali's right, you were hit on the head twice today--"
"But she was almost strangled to death, and her wrist's broken!" Kozu pointed out, pointing at Niyali, who folded her arms indignantly.
"Yukina practically healed my wrist," she said stubbornly, "And I wasn't strangled to death, so there."
"But your throat's still sore!"
"Yeah, well, Yukina healed that too!"
"And she healed my head injuries, so there!"
"But you said it still hurt!"
"I was lying!"
"ENOUGH!" Keiko yelled, and all arguments stopped. "Why don't you just share a bed? You're small enough, you should each have enough space."
"Okay," they agreed, and climbed into the same bed. Arashi pouted and opened her mouth.
"But I want to--"
"Goodnight, girls!" Botan said cheerfully, "Remember, you've got to catch the bus to the next arena early tomorrow, so go to sleep!"
"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" Keiko added, as Botan closed the door behind them, leaving the three girls in the dark.
"They're all asleep," they heard her say, "All three of them."
"Bed bugs?" Niyali squeaked, "There're bugs in these beds?"
"It's a ningen saying," Kozu told her. Niyali laughed nervously.
"I knew that."
"No fair," Arashi pouted, folding her arms, "You guys get to share a bed and I'm all alone."
"So come share with us!" Kozu said, pushing the covers away so Arashi could climb into bed with them.
"Yeah, we don't bite like the nasty bedbugs do!" Niyali put in, "C'mon, there's lotsa room!"
"YAY!" Running across the floor, Arashi leapt into the bed, pulling the covers over the three of them and settling back against the pillow.
"Goodnight, Kozu. Goodnight, Niyali."
"Goodnight, Arashi. Goodnight, Kozu."
"Goodnight, Niyali. Goodnight, Arashi." And then there was silence as the three girls fell into peaceful sleep.
...UNTIL...
"Your foot's in my face," Arashi whispered.
"Sorry." So Kozu moved her foot, and then there was some more shuffling as people tried to get comfortable in the twin-sized bed.
And so there was silence for a while, and they were just about to fall asleep when Arashi decided she really didn't want to sleep that way, so she rolled over and took some of the blankets with her.
This resulted in Niyali not having any blankets at all, and when she tried to grab them back, she rolled the wrong way and fell out of the bed with a THUMP.
"Oh..."
"Are you alright?" Kozu whispered, rolling over the edge of the bed to peer down at her.
"This gives me an idea!" Arashi whisper-exclaimed, "Let's just pull the mattresses off the beds, stick them together, and then we can have one GIANT bed on the floor!"
"Yeah!" And so they all got out of bed, pulled the blankets and pillows off the mattress, and gave it a heave! and a push!
ThumpTHUMP.
"Shh!" Kozu whispered, wincing at the noise the falling mattress had made.
"You'll wake them up!" Arashi added as it was Niyali's efforts who'd made most of the noise.
"They're not asleep yet."
"How do you know?" Kozu cocked her head.
"'Cause I heard them talking. Come on, let's go get the other one!" The same process followed--
ThumpthumpCRASH.
"Oh, now look what you did!"
"I'm sorry!" Niyali wailed, "Arashi-chan, are you okay?"
"It's snowing," Arashi mumbled, barely loud enough for them to hear, from her position underneath the upturned bedstand. "Sparkley snowflakes!"
"Arashi-chaaaaaan!"
"I'm okay," Arashi said, her head wobbling a little, "Somebody help me?" Together, Niyali and Kozu pulled the bedstand off of her--
--only to drop it as Botan knocked on the door.
"Girls? Is everything all right?"
"Oh, great!" Kozu threw up her hands, "We woke them up!"
"I told you, they weren't asleep yet!"
"What do we do?"
"Nothing," Kozu said sharply, "Maybe she'll go away."
"Girls?"
"Crap!" Kozu whispered loudly, "She's coming in!" Arashi whacked her on the head.
"Kozu, language!"
"No time for language!" Kozu protested, whapping her back, "Quick, get in bed!"
"But the bed's--" Niyali gestured to the mess of mattress, pillows, and blankets.
"Oh, yeah. Um..." Running out of ideas, Arashi grabbed the edge of the bedstand and pushed it towards the door. The girls scurried to help, and before long it was jammed securely next to the door. They knew they'd succeeded when they heard Botan protest, "The door won't open!"
Silently they high-fived, and then proceeded to prepare their double-bed, enjoying listening to the panic that erupted outside their door.
"What do you mean it won't open?"
"It won't! It's...it's stuck or something!" The door was pushed, but the bedstand didn't budge.
"Here, let me try." There was a pause, and then a mighty THUMP as something rammed into the door. "Damn thing!"
"Don't swear, Yusuke."
"Girls?" Loud knocking. "Come on, open the door."
"Don't make us break it down!"
"Yusuke! Do you honestly think threatening them's going to work?"
"Well, it might!"
"There," Arashi whispered, giving one of the pillows a final fluff, "Should we let them in now?"
"I say no," Niyali said, already crawling under the covers.
"But then they'll break down the door," Kozu whispered anxiously, "I say we let them in."
"You do that," Niyali mumbled sleepily, the flowers in her hair already starting to close
"Niyali! How can you go to sleep with all the racket they're making out there!?" And it was true--the people outside had moved to ramming the door with all they had (thank goodness the bedstand was made of steel!).
"Mmmm..." No response, other than to snuggle deeper into the pillows.
"Fine," Kozu sighed, "Arashi-chan, you do it."
"What?! Why me?"
"Because it was your idea," Niyali said.
"I thought you were asleep."
"You thought wrong."
"Wait a minute!" Kozu exclaimed, her face brightening up in the darkness, "I've got a plan!"
:::
Outside the Door
:::
"Aand--HEAVE!" Together, they rammed into the door. "HEAVE!"
"Why are you yelling 'heave' when you're pushing on the door?" Yukina asked, confusion evident on her face.
"I have no idea," Botan said, "Yusuke's the one yelling."
"AAND--" Before they could heave, the door was flung open, giving view to a very disgruntled Arashi and Kozu.
"What the heck are you DOING!?" Arashi demanded.
"Niyali's sleeping!" Kozu added.
"Yes, I'm sleeping," came a voice from further in the room.
"What the heck were you doing?" Shizuru demanded, much like Arashi had a moment ago, "We heard thumps and crashes--"
"Are you all right?" Keiko interrupted, "You're not hurt, are you?"
"We were trying to make a bed," Arashi said stubbornly, "Now if you don't mind, some of us would like to get some sleep!" The door slammed in their faces with a loud SLAM, and there were some random noises inside the room before it was quiet.
"Well," Yusuke said, blinking, "I guess they're all right after all."
"Who's ready to hit the hay?" Kuwabara yawned, "'Cause I sure am."
"That may not be a bad idea," Kurama agreed, stifling a yawn of his own.
"All in favor of going to bed, say 'aye'!" A scattered chorus of 'aye's floated back to Yusuke, he took that as an affirmative "let's go to bed!" and asked the next question.
"So, who sleeps where?"
:::
For some reason, Shizuru was finding it hard to fall asleep. She tried re-adjusting her position several times, counting sheep, counting beer bottles, nothing seemed to work. At long last, she decided to get up and get a drink of water. Maybe that would help her.
She sat up, the blanket falling off her, and glanced about. Yukina slept soundly in the bed next to her while Botan dozed on the large windowseat in the opposite wall. Silently, Shizuru padded out of their room and into the other. The only light came from the moon, and was slightly obscured by Hiei, asleep in a half-on, half-off position on the windowsill. Some of the remaining light fell on Kurama, ears twitching slightly as he slumbered in his mess of blankets and pillows on the floor. Kuwabara snored loudly from one of the sofas; Yusuke answered unconsciously with an even louder snore. Keiko's nose twitched in subconscious disgust as she rolled over on the third and last sofa.
Shizuru smiled softly and headed for the kitchen half of the room. As she was reaching for a glass from one of the cupboards, her eyes fell on the piece of paper tacked to the bulletin board. As she waited for the cup to fill with water (she had it just barely trickling out of the faucet so as not to wake anybody), she looked at it absently.
TEAMS WHO HAVE MADE IT TO THE SEMI-FINALS: Congratulations! Please be prepared for a change of hotels; there will be a bus provided to take you to the new one. The bus leaves early in the morning, so be sure to go to bed early!
THE BUS WILL LEAVE THE HOTEL AT 12:01 A.M. AND IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE AT THE NEW HOTEL AROUND NOON OF THE FOLLOWING DAY. PLEASE MEET AT THE FRONT OF THE HOTEL FIVE MINUTES BEFORE DEPARTURE.
12:01? Wow, that was early. Out of a combination of curiousity and instinctive habit, she glanced at the clock.
It was only when cold water started pouring over her hand from the overflowing glass that she snapped out of her shock and fully registered what time the clock read.
11 : 36 P.M.
...that could be a minor problem.