Disclaimer: Groan. No, still own no rights to Ranma or Yu Yu Hakusho. *Goes off into a corner to mope*
Starling: -.-'
Chapter Five: Pick a catchy phrase. ^,.,^
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Meanwhile, in another district, a young man with somewhat spiky, long red hair is tending his roses while the sun sets behind him. A small alert flashes in his head at the approach of a familiar ki, and he dusts his hands off and smiles at the girl running up to his fence. Her hair, a different shade of red and longer than his own, is bound back into a thick braid tied off with a green band. The girl herself is wearing jogging shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, and jogging shoes (plus the various accessories a girl would wear), all in vibrant shades of green and blue. Both have identical emerald green eyes, sparkling with good humor.
"Hello, Rei," Kurama greets his favorite cousin. "What brings you out here? I thought your parents and you moved to Nerima."
"We did," Rei chuckles, "but you know it takes a pretty long run for me to work up a decent elevated heartbeat." She leans on the fence with her arms, delight clear on her face as she looks over the garden. It is an ordered riot of all the colors of the rainbow, the roses taking pride of place among the various other plants. "Geez, Kurama, this garden gets bigger every time I see it. Where do you get the time these days?"
"I make time." Kurama grins and ruffles Rei's bangs. A kind-looking woman comes to the back door and smiles in surprise at the girl leaning against the fence.
"Rei! What a pleasant surprise! Do your parents know you're here?"
"Hi, Auntie! Yes, I told them I was going for a jog, and they know I usually come here when I can. How've you been?"
"Doing much better, thank you, dear. Would you like to stay for dinner? Suichi has already invited over that charming young boy. One more couldn't hurt."
"That sounds wonderful, Auntie. I'd love to." Kurama has a tiny sweatdrop by his head as a calm, slightly amused voice sounds in his head.
'First time I've ever been called charming.' Oblivious to the silent comment, Kurama's mother goes back into the house, presumably to call Rei's parents and inform them of the plan. Rei looks up into the tree beside the fence and grins.
"Okay, Hiei, you can stop hiding. Your ki gave you away, as usual." Out of the growing shadows in the tree materializes a boy dressed all in black with black, spiky hair. The only things that relieve the darkness of him is his skin, his maroon eyes, and the outline of a white star-burst in the hair of his bangs. More white touches his forehead in the form of a headband, the ends trailing by his elbows. It covers his jagan eye, the magical item that grants the koorime clairvoyance, added strength, and the ability to cover his body in extra eyes for awareness.
He actually grins back at Rei, as though he can't help it in the warmth of the girl's merriment. Rei cocks her head to one side in confusion.
"Hey, Hiei, why aren't you using your real voice? Something happen?" For an answer, the fire-apparition tilts his chin up to reveal a throat covered in bandages.
"Despite our being on vacation, Hiei can't resist getting into a minor tussle or two," Kurama says with humor as Rei gasps. Hiei glares down at his friend before being pinned with one from Rei.
"Hiei koorime, get your fire-born butt down here this instant and let me see that!" Unwillingly, Hiei drops down to stand beside the two, revealing just how short he is compared to the other two; his eyes are nearly level with Kurama's shoulder. However, the reluctance is mere show since Hiei knows that a 'let me see that' from Rei usually means a healed whatever in moments.
Rei expertly unwinds the bandages from a submitting Hiei's neck, and hisses through her teeth when the injury comes into view. A heavy, ragged slash across the skin above his windpipe bleeds sluggishly and moves with every breath the fire-apparition takes. "By Inari, Hiei, what were they doing? Trying to take your head off??"
'Yes, actually,' Hiei says in her mind, voice calm as always. 'Unfortunately for them, I took theirs instead. Besides, Yukina's already looked at this.' A trace of affection fills his mindvoice at the mention of the gentle ice-apparition who is Hiei's sister.
"So I can see, since your windpipe isn't damaged like it could be," Rei replies sharply. A snap of her fingers and little silver threads begin connecting the sides of the wound and draws them together neatly. When it is just a thin line, Rei runs the glowing tip of her right index finger across it, the flesh knitting itself seamlessly behind it. "But your sister doesn't have five years of healing-ki training under her belt like I do." Hiei shrugs; as much as he'd like to take offense, Rei is right. His friend's cousin straightens and ruffles her own bangs. "Geez. The only thing that stops me from giving you both a lecture is the knowledge of the kind of injuries you sustain during your assignments."
"Kids! Supper's ready!" Mrs. Minamino calls cheerfully from the door. Rei grins and nudges Kurama.
"Race ya?" And they sprint for the door, laughing like two children. Hiei follows more sedately, not interested in such games.
***
Busy at her desk, doing homework as usual, Akane catches the end of a conversation the next day at school.
"Yeah, I'm serious, Tomoe," one of the upperclassman girls tells her friend. "Sakura found Hideki behind the gym with a girl in his arms, kissing her!"
"Did she slap him?" Tomoe asks in curiosity.
"No. She did what that new girl told her to do. She walked up and demanded to know what was going on. Good thing she did, too. Hideki held up the script the drama class is working on and showed her the intro scene, telling her how he'd gotten the lead role and wasn't sure how to tell her, since it was a kissing scene. And then the other girl tells Sakura how she's envious that Sakura's got such a loyal guy, and how he'd been stressing for twenty minutes before they'd gotten to rehearsing."
"So then what happened?"
"Hideki gets down on one knee and proposes to Sakura!" Tomoe's friend squeals in excitement. That's about all Akane hears as the two walk past.
Huh, Akane thinks to herself, I guess Rei's predictions really are accurate. This gets her to wondering when Rei's prediction for herself will come true. And then she realizes it's already begun; Ranma hasn't teased her for a couple of days and has actually sparred with her, something he rarely--if ever--does.
"Hey, earth to Akane," a voice says. Akane breaks out of her reverie to find Rei leaning down in front of her. "Class is starting." The two take their seats just as the bell rings, and Akane leans over to speak before the teacher enters.
"Rei?"
"Hm?" The red-head is busy taking her materials out.
"Do your fortunes always come true?"
Rei gives her an appraising glance. "Getting curious, hm? For the most part, yes, they tend to be, though sometimes the cards throw me for a loop. It's happened before, though thankfully never about anything major."
"All right, students," the teacher says firmly as he walks in, "get your books out and open them to page ninety-five." The conversation breaks off, though Akane's mind places most of her attention on things other than the assignment…
***
"How was school, Rei?" her mother asks as the young martial artist walks through the kitchen door, tossing her bag onto the table and heading up the stairs.
"Exhausting, as usual. Who knew so many people'd want their fortune read? There's another girl there who's got predictions that are damned accurate, but everyone's seemed to have forgotten her." Rei sheds her socks and the tight braid, letting her hair flow loose with a sigh.
"No one can have predictions as accurate as yours, dearheart," Akiko Kenobishi soothes calmly. Rei laughs mirthlessly while she still takes the stairs at a sedate pace.
"Considering what I am, I wouldn't expect them to," is the cryptic answer as Rei vanishes onto the second floor. Mrs. Kenobishi merely resumes the creation of dinner, knowing that her daughter will be back down in time to take care of the evening class.
Rei sighs another sigh, this one of released tension as she enters her room, the bowl of dried rose petals and other herbs catching the late afternoon sunlight and sending it back in bright shards. The silver threads arranged against the doorway vanish as well as the 'normal' side of the room.
Instead of the bed and other furniture one would find in a bedroom overlooking a fairly quiet street, there is instead a large loom and a complex arrangement of multicolored threads arranged against a wall, another wall almost entirely taken up by a window that opens onto a green meadow liberally doused in wildflowers.
Rei herself is also changed: instead of her uniform she now wears an elegant robe that drifts around her lithe body in the way that only pure, high-quality silk can, and her hair has bound itself into a high ponytail strung with crystals.
A harp and flute begin playing somewhere as the room finishes its transformation and Rei closes and locks the door behind her. "Well," she says softly into the music-touched silence, "time to get back to work."
***
Akane clears her throat nervously before walking through the large gate leading into the Kenobishi's yard. She's here to learn or develop a new technique like Rei promised to help her with, and her nerves are wound nearly tight.
A group of fifteen students of varying age and coloration is already just outside the dojo, well into a round of careful stretching, all dressed in the wine-colored gi that marks them as the School's.
Not more than a couple of moments pass before one of them, a boy that looks about nine, spots her and trots up with a wave to Mr. Kenobishi. The man gives a nod of acknowledgement to Akane before returning his attention to the class.
"Can I help you, miss?" is the polite query, and Akane smiles weakly.
"I'm here to talk to Rei, please?"
"Ni-sensei will be here in a few minutes. May I inquire as to your name?" Remarkably polite for such a young kid, Akane thinks to herself.
"My name's Akane."
"Oh!" The polite mask dissolves to reveal a regular, cheerful boy. "Rei mentioned you! Said that since she missed you the other night, that you'd be popping up soon. I'll go get her!" And he races off. Akane is left blinking, startled.
"Akane-san!" Mr. Kenobishi calls from his post. "Would you like to join the class while you wait?"
"I'd love to!" Akane says, beginning to relax. This is just like the old days, when the Tendo Dojo was packed with students and her father was an actual sensei, and she would be asked to help demonstrate something. But that was before Ranma had shown up, nearly a year before, actually and Akane has sorely missed all the noise of a busy dojo.
Willingly Akane sets her gym-bag down and walks over to the class, taking an empty space near the back and swiftly limbering up. She is already dressed in her gi--the gym bag holds her regular clothes. When the rest of the class finishes stretching, Akane stands with them as they patiently await instructions.
"Right, my lambs," Mr. Kenobishi says teasingly, "Let's begin today's lessons. Now, last time we ended with a demonstration with how to break a bear-hug from behind. Anybody remember how to do that?"
This must be a beginner class, Akane thinks to herself as several students raise their hands. Mr. Kenobishi picks one at random and the student trots up to the front. To Akane's surprise, the method the student demonstrates on Mr. Kenobishi is a use of pressure points coupled with hooking her foot behind one of his and knocking him off balance, then shoving backwards with an elbow and making him fall.
Mr. Kenobishi nods approvingly from his new seat on the ground and looks at his other students. "Right now, kids. Did Miss Hakuraba do anything wrong with her defense?"
Akane listens and watches in fascination as flaws or perfect forms are discussed along with the physical demonstrations, and jumps at a light tap on her shoulder. Rei is just behind her, dressed in a dark red gi, her hair braided back into a coronet, feet bare like everyone else's. With a smile Rei jerks her head towards the empty dojo, and the two slip off without interrupting the class.
"My dad's a good teacher, ne?" Rei asks happily as they enter the dojo. Akane nods in amazement as Rei stretches and loosens her muscles in preparation.
"It's been a while since I've been a part of a lesson like that," the short-haired girl replies truthfully. "To be honest, our Dojo hasn't had any students for a while--over a year."
"Really?" But Rei doesn't seem to be terribly surprised, though the reason for that may be the distracting task of stretching properly. "I'll bet that'll change soon."
"How would you know?" Akane asks teasingly, and Rei grins, standing up straight and pushing a few stray wisps of hair behind her ear.
"Oh, I have my ways. Now, before we get started, let's find out what you already know…"
***
Ranma looks up from the homework Kasumi had suggested he finish as the front door opens and shuts, the sound of a bag being dropped on the floor reaching him clearly.
"Tadaimas!" Akane says tiredly as she walks through the living room on her way to the kitchen.
"Okaeri!" Kasumi calls back sweetly. "Did you have fun?" she asks as Akane disappears inside.
"Hai. Is there something I can snack on before dinner, Ane-chan?"
"There should be some crackers in the cabinet." Ranma shrugs and looks back down at the boring stretch of math problems in front of him, then blinks and jerks his head back up again to stare at the kitchen doorway. Akane's arms had been covered in bandages, and one leg had been wrapped from heel to knee! What the hell had she been doing?!
"What are you staring at?" Akane snaps as she emerges from the kitchen, a plate of crackers in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other.
"What'd you do, get into a fight with Shampoo and Ukyo at the same time or somethin'?"
"For your information, I found a quieter place to train. Not that it's any of your business," Akane adds under her breath as she walks past to go upstairs. Ranma bristles, but deflates again when Kasumi comes out to check on his progress.
A few hours later, after dinner, Ranma sneaks upstairs to check up on Akane, who had vanished back into her room after eating. To his pleased surprise, the door is ajar, and he peeks in. Akane is on her bed, unwinding the bandaging with books scattered all over the bed and her desk.
"Ouch," Akane hisses as the last of the leg-wrap is removed and four deep scratches are revealed, running parallel down her leg. "That really hurt. Guess they look worse than they feel, though."
"'Quieter place to train', huh?" Ranma asks, walking in with his peace-offering of some tea and dessert, which Akane had skipped. "Where, at the zoo? What made those, anyway?"
"Don't you ever knock before you come into a girl's room?" Akane snarls half-heartedly. She blinks when Ranma sets the food on her desk, pushing aside a few books to make a space for it. "Oh. Thank you."
"Yeah, well, you're welcome," Ranma mumbles, turning a bit red. "I mean it, though, I want to know where you went."
"Fine, but don't tell my father, okay?" Ranma nods. "Like I said, I found a quieter place to train, but it's a bit far. This," she gestures at the scratches, "was from some baka jumping me and trying to rob me on my way home." She really hopes Ranma doesn't spot the lie. Judging by the way his jaw just dropped, it's a good chance he doesn't. "But don't worry, I whacked him into next week. He just surprised me, is all."
"You went to see Dr. Tofu, right?" Ranma asks in concern, and Akane nods. "Well, okay then." He turns to leave, only to be stopped by a near-whisper of, "Ano…"
Akane is blushing furiously, looking rather ashamed. "About what you said the other day at lunch. I'm…sorry. I really shouldn't keep jumping to conclusions like I do."
"No, you shouldn't," is the rather rude reply. "'Cause I'm gettin' really tired of it all. Not just you," he amends, "but everyone. Kuno, Ryoga, the other girls, and whoever else keeps showing up. I'm gettin' real tired of it. 'Bout the only good thing with it is that my martial arts are pretty much the best around. Cologne and the old pervert don't count--they've had a couple centuries to learn." He softens a bit as Akane continues to look down at the floor. "But at least you done somethin' they haven't."
"Really?" Akane asks softly. "What's that?"
"You've figgered out that what you're doing ain't fair, which is more'n I c'n say for anyone else." And before Akane can say anything else, Ranma walks out.
***
Elsewhere in Nerima, two sparkling threads covered in rainbow colors dance in darkness around a pair of graceful hands. A pair of emerald eyes gleam in that darkness, and lips part in a fanged smile. "Well," is the quiet comment, "that worked out better than I expected."
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Wow, that was an unusually long chappie. Yay, me. Let's hear it for Akane actually using her brains! *gets malleted* Ow…Read and review, as always! Thanks much!