Spell: Well, don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, or Inu-Yasha.
Crystal: (Off reading mangas.)
Spell: (Scowls.)
---
"NOOOO!" Crystal cried out in dismay. "Sushi! Ramen! Oden! WHERE IS THE CHOCOLATE? ALL I WANT IS SOME CHOCOLATE, FOR KAMI-SAMA'S SAKE!"
Twilight popped in. "You're going to wake up Kagome."
Crystal blinked. "I thought we wanted her to wake up so we can explain to her parents why we're in their house with a formerly unconscious Inu-Yasha."
Twilight blinked too. "Oh yeah." She walked over to the cupboards Crystal was browsing through. "I'm hungry."
"So'm I. Hmmmmm...ramen is salty, right?" Crystal waited until Twilight nodded, then continued. "It will do. How do you make it?"
Twilight stared at her, aghast. "You don't know how to make ramen noodles?!"
"No, I don't. So?"
Twilight shook her head sympathetically. "Well, I'll make it. What flavors are there?"
"Oriental, chicken, chicken vegetable, and vegetable. Oh, and spicy. How spicy is it, anyway?"
"Really spicy, once you've eaten almost half. Toss me a packet of the kind you want."
"Make some for Inu-Yasha too, I think he likes it." Crystal threw two packets at Twilight, who caught them neatly. "Bye."
Twilight began to boil the water. After it was done, she added the necessary ingredients. Crystal, as if on cue, hopped into the kitchen and grabbed her bowl, and left, carrying the bowl carefully so as not to spill any. Twilight, noting that her blonde friend had left Inu-Yasha's, sighed and picked it up herself.
---
Inu-Yasha was not very happy. He was not very happy at all. He was hungry. And you know what he wanted most right now? Ramen. The noodles he adored. So he was moping around in the room he had borrowed, when he heard a knock on the door.
"Inu-Yashaaaaaaaaaa," the voice called quietly. There was more knocking on the door. The hanyou ignored it. He wasn't in the mood to answer the door to random people. He wanted ramen! He flopped back on the sleeping mat. The door slammed open.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Inu-Yasha yelled, jumping up, then stepped back. He wasn't quite sure who it was. The person was dressed in a surgeon's robe and had a surgeon's mask and various other outfit parts. It was actually quite realistic.
"Inu-Yashaaaaaa," said the person. The person's eyes looked evil, but the dog demon didn't care. He pushed the person out, not noticing the smell of his beloved ramen. Then he went back on his sleeping mat.
"INU-YASHAAAAA!" The person yelled, bursting back into the room. One hand was behind their back, the other was in front of them, fingers spread wide, various sharp objects and/or surgeon's tools revealing themselves. They reared up, and if their eyes didn't look evil, not many things would.
"TWILIGHT!" Crystal burst in, her eyes wide in unguarded horror. "YOU SPILLED THE RAMEN!"
Twilight put her other hand in front of her. A tiny bit of soup was trickling down the sides of the bowl. However, she didn't get long to study it. Inu-Yasha pounced on the bowl, and began eating it as fast as he could. Which was pretty darn fast. Twilight shrugged, and did a front handspring and landed outside the window. Crystal and Inu-Yasha ignored the sounds of pain.
Inu-Yasha finished his ramen in record time. Crystal stared at his empty bowl, and backed out of his room, clutching her ramen protectively.
---
Everyone gathered outside to eat ramen. And compliment Twilight on her astonishing ability to make ramen.
"This is actually pretty good," Yusuke commented reluctantly as he helped himself to the last portion of ramen. Twilight was beaming, her eyes closed as she almost shone. Well, she at least had happy flowers blooming behind her (you know, in some mangas when the people are happy the backgrounds become flowers.) But they all fell down when Inu-Yasha started wrestling Yusuke for the last bit of ramen.
Crystal helped herself to what was left in the bowl, ignoring the boys' indignant cries. She smirked and leaned back, easily tuning out Inu-Yasha's and Yusuke's attempts to reason with her. Inu-Yasha gave up and tried to grab the ramen, causing a "Hey!" from Crystal, but was blocked by Yusuke, who had also tried to grab it. The two very P.O.ed heroes of their stories began wrestling again. Everybody watched them with interest.
Twilight looked to be in her element. She was watching with a wicked glint in her eyes, eating popcorn that had appeared from nowhere. Kurama shrugged, and helped himself to a handful.
Eventually the two boys grew tired of the wrestling, especially since Crystal had long since finished. Inu-Yasha was fuming. Just because some baka girl had to go and steal HIS ramen (not that idiot kid with the weird hair's ramen), he didn't have anymore to eat. I mean, how could one be satisfied with only twelve bowls of ramen? He turned to Kagome, exasperated. "Kagome, do you have anymore..." He trailed off.
Kagome wasn't there. Instead, a white sheet of paper was where the girl had been. Twilight turned to see what was wrong. She stared at the paper momentarily, curious, then picked it up. Unfolding it, she read it aloud.
"To the various mortals and demons present:
We have taken the one you call 'Kagome,' so as to take the Shikon Jewel shards in her possession and find other shards more efficient and effectively. We do not require a ransom. However, we want is the two girls from the other world. We are most sure the hanyou will make sure of this, if only that his beloved should live in only small amounts of torture. It would not be wise to attempt a rescue without handing over the two from the other world. If our wishes are not complied to in a short amount of time, we will be forced to slowly dissect the reincarnated miko and discover the functions of human body organs. She will not be killed first. You may find us in the feudal era of the hanyou. All you must do is follow the flaming path."
Twilight set down the paper, her hands trembling, but trembling so little you could barely tell unless you looked closely. Her already pale skin was even paler than usual. Everyone else had pretty much stopped moving, and Inu-Yasha's eyes were traveling from Twilight to Crystal.
Crystal looked up at Inu-Yasha warily, her breath rate considerably increased. "You wouldn't really make us...?" She read his impatient expression. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. "Hey! We're defenseless! At least Kagome has the Sacred Arrow!"
Twilight looked at the dog demon too, and for once didn't try to make a funny comment. She smiled faintly and said, "I guess we're going to the feudal era."
Inu-Yasha exploded. "OF COURSE WE'RE GOING TO THE FEUDAL ERA, YOU IDIOT WENCH! KAGOME IS GONE, AND SO ARE THE SHARDS! DO YOU TAKE LESSONS IN BEING STUPID?"
Twilight grinned outright. "Aaaaaaaaw, doggy boy misses his girlfriend." As Inu-Yasha first blushed furiously, then looked angry, as she regained her composure. "So, what is this 'flaming path' anyway?"
Inu-Yasha sniffed haughtily. "Nobody really calls it that anymore. Actually, nobody uses it anymore. It's an old road that was supposedly made when some demon and his powerful minions burned a road before them as they went through the forest."
"Ooookay," Twilight said skeptically. "Anyway, what are we supposed to do to get there quickly? Crystal and I aren't super fast or endurant, and I doubt even you could carry both of us at the same time for the whole journey, Inu-Yasha. Unless you know some way to 'magically' transport us, we have a problem." After a moment she added, "And we don't even know exactly where we're supposed to go."
Inu-Yasha glared at the girl, who for once in her life had actually made a good point. "I'll find it."
"And how, may I ask? It's not like they're going to leave behind a little trail with big flashing arrows saying 'Kagome's kidnappers went that-a-way!'"
"I just will, okay?!"
Yusuke, who had been pretty quiet during the whole thing, stood up. "Well, that sounds really fun and I would just love to join you, but I can't. So sorry. Off to somewhere sane."
"Hold it, Yusuke," Crystal said, catching the sleeve of Yusuke's shirt in her left hand. "You ought to come with us."
"Yeah right! As if I'm going to spend my free time helping some bakas find another baka!"
Koenma popped up in front of the departing Yusuke. "Did I mention that this is your new mission?" He grinned evilly, then disappeared as Yusuke lunged, ready to punch.
Twilight stood up and began picking up the various bowls and plates. After a moment, Kurama stood and helped her, followed by the others.
---In The Yu Yu Hakusho World---
"Hey Keiko, have you seen Yusuke? Koenma has a message for him, and I can't find him anywhere," Botan said worriedly to Keiko, who was in her school outfit, clutching her bag, and looking very much the perfect little girl.
"I'm sorry Botan, but I haven't seen him in a while. Maybe you should ask Atsuko. Or Kuwabara. Who knows where the boy could have gone."
"Thanks Keiko. See ya."
---With the others---
Twilight huffed as she helped pull Crystal out of the well into the feudal era. Behind her were a few packs filled with food and other items Twilight, who had been a girl scout, considered necessary for going on a "camping trip."
"Ooof!" Crystal said as she practically fell out of the well. Inu-Yasha stood by, rolling his eyes and wishing he had better companions. At least Kagome didn't need help getting out of the hole. Worry sank in, but the demon shook his head and tried to banish any thoughts of concern. He succeeded, for the most part.
Hiei, meanwhile, had made himself comfortable in a tree and was waiting in a decently patient manner, albeit an annoyed one. The short fire demon occasionally glanced down, then looked back at whatever he was looking at. Perhaps it was those mountains, or those trees, or that village...or anything in a westerly direction from where he was.
Kurama was picking up one of the three packs and setting it on his back. Tugging on the strap, he made sure it fit properly. When it didn't, he made necessary adjustments and leaned against a tree.
Yusuke was sitting on the ground, scowling. He wasn't in the kindliest mood. Most of his anger was directed to two certain anime fanatics...but that's not important. Because Yusuke had to come, and it didn't matter if he wanted to or not.
As Twilight and Crystal picked up the remaining packs, Twilight sighing as memories came back, Inu-Yasha stirred himself.
"You can't go around in those clothes," he said to the two girls.
"You certainly believe in cutting straight to the chase," Twilight commented, but she knew the dog demon had a point. She herself was wearing a pair of grey cloth pants and an overlarge light blue shirt saying "My greatest joy in life is being different..." and then on the back, "Of course, I ignore those rude people staring." Crystal was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. On the whole, they would not be very inconspicuous.
---
"I feel weird," came Twilight's voice from behind some bushes. "I feel like I'm a little kid on Halloween." Kaede had been sympathetic toward their cause, and given the girls outfits as well as firm instructions to get Kagome back soon. She emerged wearing a dark green kimono-like sleeveless robe with a lighter shade of green obi. Where the sleeves would have been, there were instead long white sleeves from another piece of clothing. At the end of the sleeves and obi the cloth was ragged, showing the long sections of cloth had been ripped off. Crystal emerged shortly after, wearing an identical outfit, except the main tunic was navy blue, and the sleeves and obi a lighter blue.
Inu-Yasha ran an inspecting gaze over them. "You'll do," he said testily. "Come on. Let's go." The hanyou jumped up when suddenly he felt someone grab his foot, and fell down flat on his face. Annoyed, he turned over and looked at the just as irritated Twilight and let himself fall back to the ground.
"We can't travel like that," she said dryly. He glared, but waited for the others to start walking. Sooner or later, they all had set off. Twilight started singing a trail song. Her voice was pretty good. Most of them had heard better, but it gave a more comfortable air to the group. Crystal joined in a higher voice.
And the rest of the day passed pretty much like this, with occasional breaks as somebody complained of a stone in their shoe, or that they were tired, or their feet hurt, or things along that line. Finally, Twilight tackled Inu-Yasha, who had been walking so fast he might as well have been flying and forcing them all to race after him.
"Inu-Yasha. We. Cannot. Keep. Going. Like. This," Twilight said, spelling the words out as if she was talking to a very young child.
"Kagome is in danger! We have to get her in a short time, or you know what they'll do to her!" Inu-Yasha argued fiercely. His eyes had an odd light in them. Twilight could distinguish worry, concern, and hate. But mostly she could see a driving force. She took a breath to stifle a sharp reply.
"If we keep going like this, someone's going to collapse," she said hotly. "And then it will take even longer. Inu-Yasha, we have to camp for the night. Crystal and I can't go on like this. We don't have the endurance. I don't know about Kurama and Yusuke, and Hiei probably is fine, but we have to stop. I know for certain I can't travel for 24 hours without sleep. Maybe you can, but we can't."
Inu-Yasha relented after some persuading, and they started making as good camp as they could. Twilight, being a former girl scout, took charge. Since she was being considerately bossy, and ended up doing everything herself, the others sat down. Eventually they fell asleep as Twilight, with some difficulty, started to build a fire and put their meal together.
---
"Ooof," Crystal said lazily as she sat up and yawned. Looking around, she saw that Hiei had positioned himself in a tree, Yusuke was sprawled on the ground, Kurama was leaning against a tree, and Inu-Yasha was...nowhere to be found. Stretching, she walked over to the smoldering fire and sniffed the air when she remembered something. "Where's Twilight?" she asked the air, slowly turning around. No reply came. Crystal walked over to the snoring Yusuke and shook his shoulder gently. "Yusuke, wake up." The boy only turned over onto his side. Crystal shook hard. "WAKE UP!"
"Five more minutes..." Yusuke mumbled groggily.
He started to close his eyes, but Crystal stopped him. "Twilight's gone."
This caught Yusuke's attention. Well, at least a little bit. Enough to keep him from going back to sleep, anyhow.
Crystal walked over to Kurama, giving him a light shake, which was apparently enough to wake him. Then she reached Hiei's tree. Now Crystal was about the same height as Hiei, and she couldn't jump nearly as high as the fire demon could. So she kinda stood there helplessly, until she saw a large stick. Perfect. Picking it up, she wiggled it in her grasp, then aimed carefully. The stick flew. Crystal had long practice throwing sticks for her dog, and it paid off. The stick flew straight at Hiei, who promptly woke up when it was about a foot away from him and caught it. Crystal quickly hid.
"Well Crystal, why did you...Crystal? Where are you?" Kurama asked, looking around, then spotted yellow behind a thick tree. "Crystal, get out." The girl cautiously came out. "Well, why did you wake us up?"
"Twilight's gone," Yusuke said, ignoring the fact that Kurama had been addressing Crystal. "And she's paranoid, so she decided to wake us all up."
"I'm not paranoid!" Crystal protested. The two began to squabble.
"Yes, you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Denial. It's a bad thing."
"God, I hate you, Yusuke."
"Like I care."
"Ergh."
"SHUT UP!" Hiei bellowed, clearly annoyed at being woken from his nap to hear two teens argue. The two, with some grumbling and comments from Yusuke, complied. "What are we supposed to do?"
Crystal blinked. "Do?"
"Well, she's missing, and since you woke us up, we might as well do something."
"Yeah, like go find her," Yusuke said, his voice dripping with scorn.
"Oh yeah? How?" Crystal asked, her voice just as filled with scorn, if not more. The former gangster obviously had no idea, and blinked.
Kurama coughed quietly, and everyone looked at him. "Um...I might know how to find her."
"Well..." Crystal said, somewhat impatiently.
"It won't be very pleasant for Crystal," Kurama said hesitantly, looking at her apologetically, "but I could let Youko out, and he could follow Twilight's scent."
"Well," Crystal said slowly, as if she was about to receive the death penalty, "I guess it must be done. Let Youko out." She then immediately hid behind a tree.
Kurama's hair slowly turned white, he became taller, and he grew silver ears and a tail. Youko Kurama smiled.
"Well, I suppose you want me to find the other girl," he said calmly. Yusuke rolled his eyes and resisted saying something sarcastic. The fox lifted his nose delicately and sniffed the air. A breeze awoke, and he wrinkled his nose. But with the wind came the scent, and Youko began walking.
---With Twilight---
Twilight was leaning against a tree by a warm fire, where a dinner was being cooked. But she was far from comfortable. She wasn't gagged, but her hands and feet were tied, and the rope brushed against her skin and rubbed the skin raw. A demon relaxed across the fire. A tall, muscular male demon, with three horns, two on the sides and one in the middle of his forehead. He was half-naked (though Twilight had stopped blushing) and only had a dirty loincloth rapped around his privates. His hair was long and black, and was uneven and tangled.
"Well, little girl, why the long face?" he asked Twilight smugly, a little smirk across his face.
Twilight itched to wipe the smile off his face, but it was impossible. The lounging demon stood up in one fluid movement and walked around the fire. Twilight watched him warily from the corner of her eyes; he wasn't at the most convenient angle. He finally arrived at his destination. Twilight could no longer see him, as he was standing right behind her. She felt his hands descend on her shoulders, and she instinctively stiffened.
"Oh, you'll be fine, little girl," he whispered in her ear. This didn't really register; Twilight began to shake uncontrollably.
"Get away from me," she said as firmly as she could. The demon laughed.
"SPIRIT GUN!" The ball of blue spirit energy came flying at the demon. Twilight managed to throw herself partially away from the blast, but her feet were caught as the demon, carried by the energy, slammed into the tree and her feet. Her yell of pain was cancelled out by the roar of anger from the demon, who leapt to his feet to have his arm slashed off by Hiei's katana. For a moment his knees buckled, but he regained his strength and charged at Yusuke who jumped out of the way barely in time to avoid three blasts of energy coming out from the demon's horns. The demon pivoted to face Hiei, but instead faced the death tree, growing out from Youko's extended arm.
"I think my poor tree is hungry," he said coldly. "You will help me feed it, won't you?" And the demon was gone.
Twilight was staring at her feet, and with good reason. They were bleeding, and turning a mottled purple. Tears were streaming from her eyes, and her breathing was ragged. Youko withdrew his tree and walked over to the girl, who was trying her very best not to scream in pain. Bending over, he slung her over his shoulder, careful to avoid touching her feet.
---
Crystal looked up "the flaming path" and spotted Yusuke, Hiei, Youko, and Twilight traipsing along. That is, Yusuke, Hiei, and Youko traipsing along. Twilight was kinda unconscious.
"What's wrong with her?" Crystal asked worriedly, running up to them, then gasped at the sight of Twilight's crushed feet, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"Her feet were crushed," Youko said calmly. Crystal glared at him, concern and worry hovering at the side, waiting for the glare to leave.
"Of course her feet were crushed, I can tell that myself!" Crystal yelled. "Well, don't keep her there! Put her down, and administer plants or something."
Youko rolled his eyes, and laid Twilight down gently on a patch of grass.
---
Spell: I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE THAT!
Crystal: It wasn't that bad, Spell. I've seen much worse.
Spell: Oh, I know, but I have a reputation to protect, and I just destroyed it!
Crystal: Reputation...?
Spell: I'M SUPPOSED TO BE NAIVE AND PURE! AND I WROTE A MILDLY SUGGESTIVE PARAGRAPH!
Crystal: (Rolls eyes.) Whatever. Anyway, since we only got one vote on the issue of pairings, we're going to keep the polls going until we get at least 3 votes. Then we'll have the voting on what pairings to have, or not have any at all. It all depends on what the readers say! Ja!