Disclaimer: I no own, so you no sue, k?

warning: same as before

Chapter Four : Act one, Scene three:

part two

X

X

"Aooooow!" the cry wrung out through the study. Hiei sat in a chair watching the man before him, pace back and forth, getting carried away with whatever extreme ideas popped into his head.

"I'll start today! Now! This moment!" Minamino said breathlessly, "Take her away and clean her, Mrs. Yukimura. Sandpaper her if it won't come off any other way. Is there a good fire in the kitchen?"

"Yes, but-" she started, but was interrupted by the professor.

"Take all her clothes off and burn them. Ring up and order some new ones. Wrap her up in brown paper till they come." He said, continuously rambling, completely ignoring those around him.

"You're no gentleman, you're not, to talk of such things. I'm a good girl, I am; and I know what the likes of you are, I do." Hiei bawled, trying to squirm away from the people around her.

"We want none of your slum prudery here, young woman. You've got to learn to behave like a duchess. Take her away, Mrs. Yukimura. If she gives you any trouble, wallop her." Minamino said, regaining his strict voice once again.

"I'll call the police, I will!" Hiei shrieked from her spot beside Mrs. Yukimura.

"But I've got no place to put her." She said in a very tired voice, looking at the professor, hoping that her will change his mind.

"Put her in the dustbin." He remarked sarcastically, brushing the subject aside, and watching Mrs. Yukimura's shoulders slump forward.

"Aoooow!" Hiei shrieked again, recoiling herself from the people around her.

"Oh come, Minamino, be reasonable." Urameshi spoke calmly from his perch on the front of the professor's desk.

"You must be reasonable, Mr. Minamino, you really must." Mrs. Yukimura said, trying to play off of what Urameshi had just spoken, "You can't walk over everybody like this."

"I walk over everybody?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, which caused his beautiful scarlet hair to cascade over his shoulders, "My dear Mrs. Yukimura, My dear Urameshi. I never had the slightest intention of walking over anybody. All I propose is that we should be kind to this poor girl. If I did not express myself clearly it was because I did not wish to hurt her delicacy, or yours."

"But, sir, you can't take up a girl like that as if you were picking up a pebble on the beach." She argued.

"Why not?" he said innocently, his large green eyes widening, confusing the viewer to make them question if he was serious or not.

"Why not?" Mrs. Yukimura almost yelled, furious with the man in front of her, "But you don't know anything about this her! What about her parents? She may be married."

"Garn!" Hiei sputtered, embarrassed.

"There! As the girl very properly says: Garn!" Minamino joked, clearly amused with the situation at hand.

"Who'd marry me?" She asked, putting her head down slightly.

"By George, Hiei, the streets will be strewn with the bodies of men shooting themselves for your sake before I've done with you." He remarked, lowering his voice.

"Here! I'm goin' away! He's off his chump, he is. I don't want no balmies teachin' me." Hiei countered.

"Oh, indeed! I'm mad, am I?" he asked, playing hurt by her insensibility, " very well, Mrs. Yukimura, you needn't order the new clothes for her. Throw her out!"

"Stop, Mr.Minamino!" she said, and then turning in the direction of the girl in question, "Go home to your parents, girl."

"I ain't got no parents." Hiei said dejectedly.

"There you are. "She ain't got no parents". What's all the fuss about? The girl doesn't belong to anybody, and she's no use to anybody but me. Take her upstairs and-"

X

X

"Shuichi darling, you're going to be late!" Came the voice from down the stairs.

That had become a usual call within the last couple of days, last night especially. Normally, Kurama would be up at all hours, calmly watching his friend, hoping for him to open up those beautiful crimson eyes of his. But what caught him of guard every now and then was the muttering of strange phrases, and tossing and turning. He wondered how such a trivial thing had knocked his friend into such a deep sleep.

Though, last night had been a totally different story. His father had had some of his co-workers over to sign a deal, and some of them had been quite drunk. Wondering about the house, and tripping their ways up the stairs when no one noticed. Kurama was constantly listening, trying to keep unwanted quest out, as not to blow his cover. Somehow though, he thought his mother had already figured it out.

'Could never get anything past her.' Kurama thought to himself, as he wondered around his room half asleep, dressing himself for school.

"Shuichi!" Came another yell from downstairs, pushing her son to hurry up.

With that, he quickly shoved the last of his books into his bag, and started to head out of his room, when he stopped suddenly. Turning back to look at the occupant of his bed, he walked over to the window and opened the shades, letting the light flood in from outside, cascading the sleeping figure in heavenly light.

"Wake up soon, love." Kurama whispered gently, bending down to brush the bangs out of Hiei's face, and tenderly kissed him on the forehead. Taking one last look at the angel before him, he stood straight and head out the door.

Xxxx

"Have you heard?"

"Have you heard?"

"About what?"

"About Hoshishita Leiko and Minamino Shuichi?"

"Eeew! Minamino-kun! What about him?"

The voices hadn't stopped, and no matter how hard he tired, Kurama couldn't get rid of them from inside his head. Somehow, the ridiculous rumor that he and that Leiko girl were going out had spread like wildfire around the school, and him being who he was, had not heard the end of it. Everywhere he went, there were new voices following him, just waiting to hear something that they could pass on.

"Yo." Furushima said as he plopped down into a seat next to Kurama.

"Hello Furushima-kun." Kurama said, completely distracted from everything.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Hiro! Man, people call you bright, but sometimes I wonder about you…" He trailed off, as if talking to a wall. Kurama smiled at his friend's annoyance, and thought about how much he reminded him of Yusuke.

"Gomen, I forgot Hiro-kun." Kurama apologized, still a little out of it.

"So looking forward to today's rehearsal?" He asked, ginning widely.

"About as much as I'm looking forward to boiling my head in molten lava." Kurama responded, his face remaining completely straight.

"Eeew! Sarcasm!" Hiro laughed, sometimes picking on Shuichi's troubles had its ups. "Well, at least we know you'll be able to sweet talk her."

"Oh, shut up." He retorted, eyes still gazing off into the distance. Kurama sighed slightly, catching the attention of his friend next to him.

"What's the matter?" Hiro asked, turning himself so he could see his friend clearly.

"Nothing." Kurama responded, throwing his head to the side so that his hair swirled over, completely blocking his face from view.

"Come on, you can trust me, you know." Hiro said as he tried to persuade his friend to turn around, and as he was finally cracking and about to turn around, when someone pulled back the door and entered.

"Kon'nichi wa, Minamino-kun." Leiko purred as she headed towards Kurama. As she was about to pull out a seat in front of the scarlet haired beauty, the door was once again pulled open, and another figure entered the room.

"Oh good, your all here." The teacher stated as she made her way to her desk to set down her papers. "I thought we'd finish Act one scene three. So could you all please open your books, and we'll begin shortly." And with that she sat down to finish some paperwork before beginning the day's rehearsal.

Kurama slowly bent down to retrieve his script from his bag and while doing so he felt two pairs of eyes watching him. One was, without a doubt, Hoshishita, and that made him shiver with distaste. The other, he figured, was Hiro, and he could bet money that the boy was having a good laugh at his expense. Sometimes, he really wished he could strangle the boy.

"Minamino-kun, how about we practice all by ourselves, hm?" Leiko hummed from somewhere very close to Kurama

"I'm sorry Hoshishita-san, but I can't" he responded, ever trying to keep his polite persona.

"Oh, come on now Shuichi, you can't be that mean to your girlfriend." Hiro taunted from his side, obviously enjoying this a little too much.

"She is not-" But Kurama was interrupted by the grunting of his teacher to gain their attention. He shot a look at his friend, which clearly said that he wanted to kill him, badly. Hiro smiled and laughed at his friend, not caring about the death treats being dealt.

"Now everyone take your places." The teacher commanded from her spot in the front of the classroom.

"Um, Sensei, aren't we missing Nakao-san?" Hiro asked uncertainly.

"Oh well, she told me that she could not make it today, so I'll be playing Mrs. Pearce while she is out."

"Oh, ok." And with that everyone picked up their scripts again and began.

X

X

"But what's to become of her? Is she to be pain anything? Oh, do be sensible, sir." Mrs. Yukimura pleaded.

"What on earth will she want with money? She'll have food and her clothes. She'll only drink if you give her money." Minamino spoke impatiently.

"Oh, you are a brute. It's a lie; nobody ever saw the sign of liquor on me." Hiei spoke to the professor. Turning to Urameshi she pleaded, "Oh, sir, you're a gentleman; don't let him speak to me like that!"

"Does it occur to you, Minamino, that the girl has some feelings?" Urameshi asked, trying his best to defend the poor girl.

Looking at the girl Minamino cheerily spoke, "Oh, no, I don't think so. Not any feelings that we'd need to bother about. Have you, Hiei?"

"Mr. Minamino. I must know on what terms the girl is to be here. What is to become of her when you've finished your teaching? You must look ahead a little, sir." Yukimura pleaded more.

"What's to become of her if I leave her in the gutter? Answer me that, Mrs. Yukimura." The professor countered.

"That's her own business, not yours, Mr. Minamino." She stated.

"We'll when I've done with her, we can throw her back into the gutter, and then it will be her own business again; so that's alright." Minamino remarked sarcastically.

"Oh, you've no feelin' heart in you: you don't care for nothing but yourself. Here! I've had enough of this. I'm going." Hiei then promptly left for the door when she felt someone tug on her wrist.

"Hiei!" Minamino exclaimed, as he reached for the chocolates on the table next to him, "Have some chocolates."

"How do I know what might be in them?" she asked, eyeing the candies, very tempted to pop them in her mouth, "I've heard of girls being drugged by the like of you."

"Pledge of good faith, Hiei. I eat one half and you eat the other." He said and watched her as she opened her mouth to reply, but quickly pops the chocolate in her mouth, "You shall have boxes of them, barrels of them every day. You shall live in them, eh?"

"I wouldn't have ate it, only I'm too lady like to take it out of me mouth." She protested.

"Think of it, Hiei. Think of the chocolates, the taxis, and the gold, and diamonds." He lavished as he took her hand and led her to the balcony.

"No! I don't want no gold and no diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am." She objected.

"Excuse me, Minamino, but I really must interfere! Mrs. Yukimura is quite right. If this girl is to put herself in your hands for six months for an experiment in teaching, she must understand thoroughly what she is doing!" Urameshi spoke, and watched as the professor stopped, and started to think on the matter for a minute.

"Hiei, you are to stay here for the six months learning how to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop. If you're good and do whatever you're told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom and have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolates and take rides in taxis. If you're naughty and idle you will sleep in the back kitchen among the black beetles, and be walloped by Mrs. Yukimura with a broomstick. At the end of ix months you shall go to Buckingham Palace in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the King finds you out you're not a lady, you will be taken to the Tower of London where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls. If you are not found out, you shall have a present of seven-and-six to start life with as a lady in a shop. If you refuse this offer you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl; and the angels will weep for you." He promoted.

"Now are you satisfied, Urameshi?" he asked, and turning his attention to the other woman in the room, "Could I put it more plainly or fairly, Mrs. Yukimura?"

X

X

"Come with me, Eliza." The teacher read, putting almost no emotion into her acting.

"That's right, Mrs. Pearce. Bundle her off to the bathroom." Kurama read, sick of the whole thing, and really just wanting to go home. During the whole practice Leiko had been sending him seductive glances, all of which made him want to vomit

"You're a great bully, you are. I won't stay here if I don't like. And I won't let nobody wallop me." According to the script it said that she was supposed to have read that reluctantly and suspiciously, though it was plainly obvious that she lacked both tones.

"Don't answer back, girl." The teacher read.

"If I'd known what I was lettin' myself in for, I wouldn't have come up here. I've always been a good girl and I won't be put upon…" Leiko rambled, and then stepped out of the circle they were in, indicating the leaving of the room.

"In six month-in three if she has a good ear and a quick tongue- I'll take her anywhere and pass her off as anything. I'll make a queen of that barbarous wretch." Kurama spoke.

"Higgins, forgive the bluntness, but if I'm to be in this business, I shall feel responsible for the girl. I hope it's clearly understood that no advantage is to be taken of her position." Hiro spoke, watching his friends face sigh as he quickly read the net few lines, and felt the gaze of Hoshishita on his back.

"What? That thing? Scared, I assure you." He said.

"Now come Higgins, you know what I mean! This is no trifling matter! Are you a man of good character where women are concerned?" Hiro asked gravely.

"Have you ever met a man of good character where women were concerned?" Kurama asked, and both sighed as they watched the expression of the classmate.

"Yes. Very frequently." He assured, as though the matter was finite.

"Ok, I think we'll stop for today. It's getting a bit late outside." The teacher instructed, and went to gather up her things.

"Minamino-kun?" Leiko asked walking up to the boy.

"No." Kurama affirmed, and slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom, listening to the snickering of his friend and the huffing of one very pissed off drama queen.

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An: wow! i thought this chapter would never get done, 'cause my computer crashed FOUR times while writing it! ARGGH!so anyway, i hope you enjoyed and tune in next time! please RR! and thanks again to all of you who did!

Yuro-Kage

YokoYoukai

Xiao07

What2callmyself