Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Warning: For those of you who don't like cursing... this isn't a good chappie for you. This chapter, according to my wonderful beta for this chapter, Penny, should be rated 'R' for profanity.
Dedicated to: Diane, a.k.a. Yani, simply 'cause she's THE BEST friend EVER, I miss her, and she's the one who reminded me of volleyball. Oh, and I also want to dedicate this to Ali, Kat, and the rest of Nine Lives, 'cause WE ROCKED! We're the best volleyball team OLF will ever see.
Chapter 11: Christmas Volleyball
"Jesus!" Yoko exclaimed, ducking right before the volleyball took off his head.
On the other side of the makeshift court, the girls grinned evilly and slapped each others' hands.
"Yoko! What the hell are you doing!? You're supposed to HIT the damn ball, moron!" Yusuke bellowed, digging through the snow to uncover the ball.
"You're the fucking moron! Did you see how fast that thing was going? DID YOU!?"
"Just shut up and play the game, both of you," Suichi reprimanded.
The Christmas Eve volleyball game was going rather well. Considering that the girls were outnumbered, yes, it was going rather well, indeed. On one side was Hiei, Yoko, Suichi, Paul, Kazuma, and Yusuke. On the other side were Ana, Sarah, Yukina, Kayko, and Kazuma's high school senior sister, Shizuru. The referee was none other than Genkai, girls' volleyball coach and initiator of the scrimmage match going on at the moment. Naturally, there had to be a bribe in order to drag the boys to the match: Either a failing gym grade (no surprise, these happened to be the boys who weren't exactly sports enthusiasts) or a surprise gift—a.k.a. candy.
"Point: girls."
"Ms. Genkai, could you at least—"
"NO! Girls' serve!"
Ana grinned, caught the ball, and prepared for another serve.
One... Two... Three!
"FUCK!" Hiei yelled angrily after getting hit in the stomach. "DAMMIT, ANA!"
"Point: girls."
"ANA, YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"
"Hiei, don't curse!" Yukina said, distressed that half the neighborhood had to hear that.
"Sorry Hiei! My aim was off—I meant to hit Suichi."
"WHAT!?" The red-head looked... pissed.
"Did I say that out loud?"
Shizuru nodded and patted Anastasia on the shoulder.
Suichi's expression brightened, however, when he realized that he was the only one on his team not nursing bruises.
"Thanks for taking the hit, Hiei!"
"TRAITOR! I'll kill you BOTH!"
Yusuke took control. "Ms. Genkai, wasn't that a foul?"
"Am I supposed to care?"
"You're sexist!" Yusuke bellowed.
"Damn right. Deal with it, dimwit."
Ana grinned again and served.
"Out of bounds. Sorry girls. Serve: the dimwits."
Kazuma stepped out of the court, tried to bounce the ball in the snow, failed, and proceeded to pretend that the ball was Botan's head.
At least it went over the net. However, Kayko was waiting for it, jumped, and hit it back. Finally, Yoko was able to do something useful and slammed it straight...
...at Ana, who was more than glad to implant it into Paul's face.
"DAMMIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"Man, if this was a real game, she would've been disqualified a looong time ago," Kazuma said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"She'd've been arrested a long time ago," Hiei muttered darkly.
Up next for the girls' team was Yukina. None of the boys was too worried. Then again, none of the boys stayed after school to witness the girls' volleyball practice.
Yusuke swore as his finger was snapped all the way backwards by the ball.
"Stop whining. Point: girls."
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, Yusuke!"
"Ah..."
The next serve wasn't quite up to Yukina's usual standard, and the boys got possession of the ball.
Yusuke's serve slammed into the net.
"Dammit!"
And then it was Shizuru's turn. Kazuma, standing in the front row, looked extremely frightened.
"Say your prayers, bro!"
Slam! went the ball into the carrot-haired boy's forearms.
"Gaaah!"
"Hey, there's a reason why I was the only freshman on an all-senior volleyball team," Shizuru reminded him, grinning.
"Gaaah!"
"Point: girls."
"Ms. Genkai, what's the score?"
"Sixteen to five. Better catch up, boys."
"Yeah, yeah."
Seven points later, by some fluke, the guys managed to get the ball back into their possession.
"'C'mon, Suichi!"
"Yeah, no pressure, no pressure."
One... Two... Three... Four!
The ball soared up into the air and everyone had to crane their heads to see where it went. And down it came, right above Sarah, who dug it over the net, right over to Hiei. In turn, the boy passed it over the net and it flew over to Kayko, who tossed it up for Yukina to slam over. Yusuke knocked it to Sarah again, who hit it to Kazuma, the poor fool then getting it to Ana. Said power-hitter bashed the ball at Hiei, who braced himself for impact, saying a few prayers as he did so.
Thank God the snow was soft enough that when he was shoved into the ground, Hiei didn't break any bones.
"Oh, shit! Hiei, are you okay?"
Hiei opened his eyes and saw that she was standing over him.
"No. I'm not okay, you fucking MANIAC! YOU'RE DEAD!" Hiei reached up, dragged Ana down into the snow, and proceeded to shove ice down her back.
"SHIT!"
And somehow, the volleyball game turned into a snowball fight.
Memory
It was just another one of those days when Yusuke, Kazuma, Yoko, Suichi, and Hiei threw around snow, making mini snowmen and pelting the other little kids with snowballs.
"Suui?" (1)
"What, Yusuke?"
"Here!"
And, giggling maniacally, Yusuke shoved snow into his friend's face.
"COOOOOLD!"
"Duh! It's snooow, Suui." Hiei rolled his pretty little eyes and threw a snowball at a younger boy's snowman.
"Hey, I betcha I c'n throw furder den alla you!" Kazuma shouted at the top of his lungs all of a sudden.
"Yeah, right, stupid!"
"OOH! HIIIEI SAID A BAAD WOOORD!"
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
"OOOOH!"
"Stupid!"
"Watch! Ima throw it furder den you!" with that, Kazuma chucked a rather large boulder of snow across the playground. Yusuke laughed and threw one, going further by about a full inch and a half. Yoko and Suichi also joined in, laughing hysterically.
Of course, it wasn't all that fun once Kazuma ran screaming and crying to his older sister after being hit in the eye with a chunk of ice. Guess who threw it?
End Memory
Genkai couldn't help but grin at the little brats who had actually grown up, physically, at least. Shizuru stood next to the gym teacher, away from the fray, lighting up a cigarette and offering one to Genkai, who accepted.
"They're such kids."
"I know," replied the pink-haired woman, smiling slightly. "DIMWITS! What have you learned today?"
"Absolutely nothing, you bitchy hag!" Yusuke told her, and threw a nice chunk of snow at her. The gym teacher dodged it easily.
"Next!"
"Guys aren't made for playing volleyball!" Kazuma said, ducking.
"Next!"
"Ana is a FUCKING SADIST!"
("That I can't argue with," Genkai muttered in an undertone to Shizuru.)
"Shut up, Hiei!"
"Make me, bitch."
"Gladly!"
After a brief tussle, Hiei ended up sitting on Ana's stomach.
"Get off me, jackass!"
"Make me, bitch."
"That's the second fucking time you've said that! Get off!"
"What, do I weigh too much for your weak little stomach?"
"Yeah right! You weigh, like, three pounds! Do you even eat, you anorexic bastard!?" (2)
"Ask me that again."
"JUST GET OFF ME!"
"I rather like my new seat."
"HIEI! Yoko! Suichi! Stop laughing! Help me, dammit!"
"You almost killed me!" Yoko retorted.
"I didn't mean to!"
"Too late, Bobby-girl."
"Ow! I would help, Ana, but I think Yusuke broke a few of my ribs," Suichi groaned, clutching his ribcage. "Agh! Ms. Genkai! Medical help, please!" Genkai sighed, but went to help Suichi.
"Sarah! Please! I know where you sleep, Sarah! If you don't help, just remember: I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!"
"Are you hugging his waist, Ana?" Sarah asked seriously, staring at her twin in nothing short of amazement.
"I'M TRYING TO GET THIS BASTARD OFF ME!"
Hiei shifted a bit, disengaging Ana's arms. "Try a little harder and I might just have to give you a black eye."
"You wouldn't! ...Would you?"
"Ask me that again."
"Hiei!"
"Oh, stop whining."
"I'm—going—to—kill—you! Dammit, I can't breathe!"
Hiei shifted a bit more.
"Thanks a lot."
"No problem. I don't want to be convicted of murder, you know."
"BASTARD! You don't care about me, you care about jail time!"
"What, I'm supposed to care about tagalongs?"
"Damn right! And for the last freaking time, I'M NOT A TAGALONG!"
"Don't yell in my ear, tagalong."
"Hiei!"
Said eighth grader looked over to his sister.
"What?"
"Stop torturing Anastasia!"
"I'm not really torturing you, am I, Ana?"
"Like hell. Seriously, do you eat?"
"You're the one who shoves it down my throat, Mother Hen."
"Do not! Jackass."
"Still, stop it, Hiei!" Yukina protested.
Hiei sighed dejectedly, but clambered off of Ana and held a hand out to his friend.
"Thanks a lot."
"No problem. You're lucky Yukina sympathizes with you."
"Oh, you know you love me, Hiei."
"Hn. I think NOT. In another dimension, maybe."
"That's so mean!"
"Deal with it, tagalong."
"JACKASS!" Ana kicked hard at Hiei's shin. The boy, who wasn't expecting the attack, clutched his leg and swore profusely. The girl only laughed.
Kazuma turned to Yusuke. "Man, that's so weird. Are we sure they're friends?"
"You'd better frickin' believe it," Yusuke muttered, slamming snow into his best friend's face.
"Holy HELL that's cold!"
"See, we're friends, aren't we, Kazuma?"
"Hiei... Yukina..." Heads snapped to Genkai. Whose wouldn't, when she had spoken in such a gentle undertone? Beside her, Shizuru had her arm around a woman who was sobbing profusely.
Yukina ran to her mother, Hiei following slowly.
Genkai motioned for the other teens to run along home.
"My children," Hina (3) gasped, and threw her arms around them. Yukina settled into the embrace, trying to comfort her mother, but Hiei simply stiffened.
"What happened?" Was he really the one who was asking that? That sense of dread deep within him...
Hina looked at her son with mournful eyes that told him everything.
Notes: (1) My made-up nickname for Suichi. I like the way it sounded in my head, but this was the only spelling that came even remotely close. Dunno if it means anything, and please don't tell me. (2) I know, this isn't important, but that's my favorite line in the entire chapter, possibly in the entire fic. (3) If I recall, this is Hiei and Yukina's mom's name, but I'm not positive. Tell me if I'm wrong and I'll fix it.
I love playing volleyball, even though my wrist isn't in wonderful shape. And I love snow. And, to tell the truth, I LOVE cliffhangers. So, this chapter was the BOMB for me.
Pairings: I know, I know, people have been asking me for a long time. Slight (and confused) Yusuke-Kayko, slight Kazuma-Yukina, Botan-Her Fiancée (whoever that might be), and, as we all know, Karasu's been comin' on to Suichi for quite a long time now, though that isn't exactly a pairing, it's a... stalking, ne?
I don't intend for this to become a full-blown romance fic, though, because I don't like that idea. I love the little chibi YYH charries that scamper around through my brain more than I do the idea of them all hooking up. Speaking of chibi YYH charries, has anyone else seen the pic of mini Yusuke hugging the teddy bear, mini Hiei with the lollipop, and mini Kurama sleeping? It's so—so CUTE!
So, review! Though, I can tell you, it won't depend on how many people review for me to post up the next chapter. It goes up as soon as it's finished.
Thanks to: slave2anime, Princess Krystal01, KuramaIsFine, poltergeist report 101, Kuranga108, Arano Honou, and erosgirl. You guys rock!