Author's Note: Please excuse the irregularity of my updates and my reference to various shows, movies, and books. I tend to act pretty crazy and my oneesan is being restrictive.
Kira and Ivy Raine: ::watching Yu-Gi-Oh with their yami muses::
Yami Yuugi: What are those screams?
Kira: ::off-handedly:: Oh, just our newest torture device.
Yami Bakura: Oooh, what?
Ivy Raine: Since my sister is so eager to tell, it's the Star Wars Christmas Special.
All Yamis: ::shudder::
Marik Ishtar: Very efficient. How long have you had them in your parents' bedÂroom?
Kira: Well, since our parents are currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their way to Paris, I can have them in there for as long as I wish. However, they've only been in there for a coupla hours.
Yami Yuugi: Give them a break, Kiki.
Kira: 'Kiki?'
Yami Yuugi: ::nods::
Kira: Okay! ::presses 'Stop' on the remote twice, ejecting the tape:: Hiei-kun, Youko-kun, Yuusuke-san, come down to the living room when you're able!!
::In Kira's parents' room the terrifying Star Wars Christmas Special is playing.::
Hiei: ::huddled under bed::
Youko Kurama: ::hiding in closet::
Yuusuke: ::rocking back and forth, whimpering::
::All hear tape pop out.::
Hiei: ::draws katana::
Youko Kurama: ::summons Rose Whip::
Yuusuke: ::aims Rei Gun::
::All attack the tape. It is (obviously) completely destroyed.::
Yuusuke: I'm going to kill her.
Hiei and Youko Kurama: ::shake heads:: Uh uh.
Hiei: I'm not pissing her or her big sister off ever again. ::meekly heads downstairs::
Youko: I'm not stupid. ::follows Hiei::
Yuusuke: ::glares at door:: They die this day.
::In Kira's living room::
Hiei: ::enters room:: Gomen nasai, Kira-chan. I should have never called you a hanyou.
All Yamis and Ivy Raine: ::stunned into silence::
Youko: ::steps up:: I don't know what the hell I did, but I'm sorry, too.
Kira: ::pats sofa:: Come, sit. We're watching Yu-Gi-Oh.
Youko and Hiei: ::sit and immediately begin to argue as to who's better, Kaiba-sama or Jounouchi-san::
Yami Yuugi and Ivy Raine: ::attention shifts to argument::
Chapter Five: Kurama's Discoveries
Kurama sat at the Reikai database and stared at the incomplete entry in front of him.
Of the three god/youkaihanyous known, the most famous is Traci Le.
Traci Le's father was Inari. Her mother was an unknown youkai
(FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS TOPIC IS CLASSIFIED.)
Why would the Reikai classify this information? It's pertinent to the case.
"Computer, classification acknowledged. Security clearance requested," Kurama said.
"Name and password please," requested the feminine voice of the computer.
"Youko Kurama. Password: Elgin Two."
"Security clearance request approved. Full clearance permitted only to Botan and Koenma-sama. Have a nice day."
Kurama rolled his eyes. Note to self: Talk to Koenma about upping my security clearance.
He scanned the document in front of him as it printed. He was supposed to be at the library. He didn't have enough time to read the document in the Reikai. He had promised okasan he'd cook dinner tonight.
Shiori-okasan had been in good health for a little over a year now. There had been a few scares, but the Mirror of Forlorn Hope had done its job.
"Computer, clearance to open portal to the ningenkai."
There was a repeat of the request for his name and password.
"Security clearance approved. Have a nice day."
He opened the portal and left the Reikai.
x-x-x-x-
"Shuuichi!!" Shiori called.
"Hai, 'kasan?" he shouted from his room, calm. There was no urgency in Shiori-okasan's voice.
"You have a visitor!"
He blinked, startled. "Who is it?"
A moment of silence, then, "Cherile Garrett!"
Kurama stood quickly and rushed downstairs to the door. Cherile should not be up and moving for another day or so, even with the help of Yukina's youki.
Indeed, the violet-eyed blonde stood in the foyer, slipping off her shoes. She glanced up at him and said, "Konnichiwa, Shuuichi-kun." She didn't meet his eyes, though.
"Hello, Cherile-chan. What brings you to this side of town?"
"I need your help."
"Ahh, your Trig work?" he inquired, glancing at Shiori-okasan meaningfully, though the older human was staring at Cherile.
"Hai," Cherile replied. "The theorem has escaped me, yet again."
"Is it okay, okasan?"
"Hai," Shiori said. Then, She's very beautiful, Shuuichi.
Cherile blushed. "Arigato, Minamino-san. I am flattered." Cherile followed him to his room. Once there, he sat in the chair at his desk and gestured to his bed. She sat and looked at him.
"What brings you here?"
"I want you to look at something," she answered, reaching for the hem of her white T-shirt. She pulled it up to where the wound she had taken a few days ago should be.
Only it wasn't there.
"Where-?"
"I don't know. It was there last night, but gone this morning."
"Even with Yukina's Healing, you shouldn't be up for another two or three days," Kurama murmured, lost for words.
He looked at her and hesitantly reached for her stomach. Gods help him, but he had read the whole report and knew that Traci Le had the power to Bind people to her. If a person was Binded to her, they could not ignore her will, her desires would be their own.
If Cherile was indeed Traci Le's reincarnation, like Kurama suspected, he knew that Cherile had probably Binded him to her.
She permitted his touch, watching his hand carefully. She met his eyes for the first time since she'd entered his home. Softly, she said, "Did you not believe your eyes? I know how that feels. I was frightened when I first woke up."
"Hn. Kitsune, the Detective needs us," said a familiar voice. Cherile's eyes widened and she turned away to the person.
"I was showing him the wound. He was as astonished as you and I were." The moment was ruined. She had turned away. "I want to come with you, Hiei-san. Perhaps this strange rapid Healing of mine will prove useful."
Hiei's normally cold eyes softened and he gave her a tiny smile. Most people wouldn't have seen it, but Cherile did and she returned it, amethyst eyes twinkling.
Kurama's eyes sharpened. He wasn't sure if her were jealous, since she'd never smiled at him, or angry that Hiei had entered his room without pausing to knock for permission. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.
"She shouldn't."
Hiei and Cherile both looked at him. Hiei's face had returned to its usual mask.
"Whyever not, Shuuichi-kun?" Cherile queried, looking startled.
"It's dangerous."
"I can fight," she countered.
"It's dangerous," Kurama repeated. "We won't be dealing with ordinary fighters. You aren't used to them, Cherile. You'll get hurt."
Cherile looked at him. "I'm not an ordinary fighter, Shuuichi." Calmly, she closed her eyes and a small breeze began to swirl around her. Slowly, she was lifted into a sitting position with nothing beneath her. Her eyes opened and she moved outside the window beside Hiei.
"That's not my only trick, either. I have a ton of them," she said, smiling. She re-entered the window and stood.
"Let's go. Hiei, go warn Yuusuke."
Hiei nodded and disappeared. Kurama turned back to Cherile. "What you will hear at the meeting will be... disturbing, to say the least.
Her smile widened as she recognized her victory and his submission. They left his room and went to the foyer to slip on their shoes.
"Okasan, I'm going out."
Shiori exited the kitchen, wiping damp hands on the towel at her waist. "Be careful, Shuuichi."
"Don't worry."
He kissed her cheek, gently placing calming hands on her shoulders, before leaving.
She had been honestly envious of the easy, confident, reassuring affection between mother and child. She had never experience that and never would.
Tacosia Emiryne-Garrett had died yesterday evening at five p.m. of a massive heart attack. Cherile had known immediately of her mother's death.
She felt nothing. No grief, for she had barely known the woman. No peace, because there was nothing to cause the peace. No anger, for she had long been over the anger.
Nothing but the feeling of finally being free.
She didn't like most of her family, so, with her mother's death, it was expected that she wouldn't associate with most of them for a while. She only liked her grandfather and step-grandmother. The rest of them could go into Oblivion and Cherile would think the world better off for it.
And there were only four people she liked beside her grandparents. People she might claim any affection for.
And she had just killed it with two of them. She'd told Kurama-kun and Hiei-kun her dirty little secret. She could fly.
No. She soared to the highest altitudes, only wanting to go higher. She floated, meters above the ground and thought nothing of it.
They wouldn't want to associate with her now. They would tell Urameshi and Ukimura-san. They, she would be all alone. Just like she had been in America.
They cut into a dark, tiny alley and Kurama-kun stopped.
"Cherile-chan, why do you continue to come to me and Hiei-san?"
"Because you seem to understand me and I think I can trust you."
"Why?"
"Because I sense integrity, goodness, and the ability for affection in you."
"What about Hiei-san?"
"I was referring to the both of you.
She was beginning to be afraid. No one knew where she was. Camille-san was on the other side of the city, though it wasn't like she'd care.
She clamped down on that fear out of long habit. Fear wasn't the answer right now. Fear was another enemy. Carefully, she iced over her emotions, inhabiting the 'Quiet Place' her sensei was always referring to.
I die, so what? I'm mortal. That's my destiny. I won't die without a fight, though, she mused. That was her way. Life was a battle royale and only the strongest, most enduring fighter won.
She planned on being that fighter.
"Do you know that both Hiei and I sense everything you feel?"
Oh, joy. He's another of that bunch. Absolutely wonderful.
"No, I didn't know. It's real, isn't it?"
"No."
The flatness of his voice infuriated her. She could have handled coldness, laughter, or even anger, but the absence of emotion was cruel.
She prepared a mental arrow and pointed at the part of her mind labeled 'Hiei.' Almost immediately, he was there.
She understood it all now.
Many had played this game with her. She had never fallen for 'Who Can Melt The Ice Bitch?'
Until now.
And, oh Gods, had she fallen hard.
"Kitsune, you're scaring her."
"It's time to tell her."
"Don't worry," she muttered. "I've figured it out. I should have known all along. It's so obvious, now that I look back. Who put you up to it? Kuwabara? No, he's too stupid. Urameshi?"
"Yes. Yuusuke Urameshi is our boss."
Her breath came as an unsteady, nearly silent sob. She should have known, goddammit. "You were both charming. Tell Urameshi that he almost succeeded. I almost fell flat on my face in love with both of you."
They looked stunned.
"Unforgivably selfish, isn't it? Urameshi always did get the better of me in plots. He really acts stupid, but there's a brain buried underneath all of the junk. I should have known it was all fake. The caring, the sincerity, all of it was fake, wasn't it?"
"You... almost... fell in love... with us?" Kurama whispered.
"Yes. Stupid, isn't it? I was so goddamned stupid." She pulled herself together, out of old habit. Gods, would the pain just go away? She'd give it the attention it was demanding; she just couldn't give the attention now. She had to focus on being able to walk away with her pride in tact.
"Tell Urameshi to meet me in the vacant lot behind the school. I'll be unarmed. He can bring whatever he wants. It's time for an ass-kicking." She laughed coldly. "I would kick both of you from here to Tokyo Bay, but I'm afraid I'd have to deal with the hundred preps who love you both so desperately. I can deal with four fighters at once, but not one hundred. Bruising those pretty faces of yours would be absolutely unforgivable."
"Cherile..."
It was the soft, pleading tone that broke her need for pride and had her screaming, "I hate you! I hate both of you! I hope you rot in the deepest pits of Hell!!"
Then, stunned by her lack of control, she turned on her heel and dashed away. She was sure that, after this, her heart would never, ever heal.
Ivy Raine: ::crying::
Kurama (now in his human form again): ::stunned::
Kira: ::looks at Ivy Raine:: What's wrong with you?
Ivy Raine: ::sobs:: That was so wrong!!
Kira: ::loudly:: Would you SHUT UP?!?!
Ivy Raine: B-b-b-b-but... she's heart-broken!
Kira: ::glaring:: My sister, the sentimental idiot.
Kurama: ::begins to cry:: S-s-sorry.
Hiei: ::looks at Kurama, floored:: Kitsune?
Kira: ::rolls eyes::
Kurama: ::crying quietly:: So sad. Poor Cherile-chan.
Kira: I'd better end this before they don't let me.