Saga 7: Demons, ghosts, & goddesses
Ch.10. Scolding disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Yu Hakusho characters except Shadow Dark,
her sister, Freya, Michiru, Jugo, and Lenos "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!" A very angry voice could be heard almost half a mile away from its current location at the residence of a Reikai Master. "ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE?!?! HERE YOU ARE, WANDERING ABOUT IN THE FOREST, AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME, CONSIDERING A GANG OF KILLERS ARE AFTER YOU, AND YOU DON'T EVEN CONSIDER THE RISKS?!?! WHAT IN ALL THE HELLS IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, KID?! WERE YOU HIGH, OR JUST DROPPED ON YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE?!"

Michiru stood, wincing at every furious sentence the angry Spirit Detective spat out at her. She closed her eyes for a moment. 'I deserve every bit of his chiving. I did wander out without permission after all. But still...Lulu...' Another loud rant from Yusuke snapped her back to the current matter at hand. "ARE YOU JUST TOO FUCKING RETARDED TO REALIZE YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER?! YOU HEAR ME?! D-A-N-G-E-R!!!!" Michiru looked up into the brown eyes of the angry boy and then, for some odd reason, smiled sweetly. Yusuke faltered for a moment, blushing and then continued on with hysterics. "WHAT'S WITH THE SMILE?! ARE YOU EVEN FREAKING LISTENING TO ME?!?! ARGH, SCREW IT!!" Red-faced and infuriated, Yusuke turned around, wanting very badly to kick something. Michiru stood in silence for a few moments, looking at her audience, which consisted of everyone else; all the boys and Genkai. She felt her lip tremble for a moment, afraid that the others would yell at her too.

Instead, to her surprise, a young (and dashing!) redhead came forward, and put a hand on Yusuke's shoulder. The Spirit Detective's shoulders were still heaving from the extensive amounts of air he had exhaled for the past fifteen minutes. The redhead kept a solemn face. "Yusuke. Stop yelling at her. You've been barking at her for almost twenty minutes straight now." Yusuke sharply turned around. "STOP YELLING HUH?! I HAVE A RIGHT TO YELL CONSIDERING THIS CHICK HASN'T TOLD ME ANYTHING ABOUT HER AND SHE'S RUNNING OFF TO GOD KNOWS WHERE ONLY TO GET HER ASS CAPTURED BY THOSE BASTARDS AGAIN!!! NOW, YOU TELL ME I HAVE NOTHING TO YELL ABOUT!!!" Kurama took this all with a very calm exposition.

Michiru lowered her gaze to the floor. She did feel guilty, leaving without a thank you, or even a mention of where she was going. But, she couldn't let them get involved. 'This is my burden, and mine alone. They should not have to share it. I can't and won't. It just wouldn't be fair to these people. But, I must warn them...' She looked up again through collected strands of chestnut hair, viewing the continuously spazing Yusuke. She then averted her eyes to the others. The short guy with black spiked hair was just rolling his eyes, and looking out a window as if all this was boring him. The orange-haired boy had a blank expression on his face, as if clueless as to what was going on (A/N: This shouldn't surprise anyone -_- ;). The woman called Genkai was simply standing and sighing every few moments, as if she had heard this sort of argument one too many times before.

The girl clasped her hands behind her back, trying to find the right words to apologize. Michiru then looked at Kurama, who in turn, stole a glance at her and smiled. Michiru felt her cheeks turn a slight pink and averted her gaze to Yusuke who was rubbing his head while grumbling through gritted teeth. She brought her hands up to her mouth in a prayer gesture, and then took a few small steps toward both of the boys. Michiru turned to Yusuke, who now just had a sour look on his face. He turned to her, about to say something, but another sweet smile from the woman cut him off. She then took his face in her hands and gave him a small peck on the cheek, and whispered, "I'm sorry." then walked past him and did the same for Kurama before heading back to the guest room.

Everyone was silent when she left. Hiei had given a simple "Hn." and Kuwabara was speechless. Genkai gave a small smirk as both the boys blushed from the gesture of thanks the young woman had given them. No one spoke for several minutes. Then, Genkai cleared her throat, causing everyone to turn to her. She had to hide another smirk as Yusuke and Kurama both scratched their heads and avoided everyone's gaze. "Well. Now that the young lady is back, I suggest we treat her with respect as a house guest and not bother her too much on her identity." Yusuke looked up, pissed again. "NO WAY! I'm not gonna sit on my ass and wait for her to decide when she's gonna tell me her stupid name and what her connection is with the Black Nahga!" Genkai rolled her eyes and replied "If you will let me finish, dimwit, I was going to say that although we should respect her personal information, we should try to give her a little nudge. And I think I might have a solution."

Michiru ran a scarred hand through her greasy hair and sighed. She felt like she was being held hostage here. She then shook her head, brushing away the idea. 'Of course I'm not a hostage! These people obviously need the information I have about the Black Nahga, and I haven't been doing much to help...' she paused and felt her neck scar again, gently running her fingertips over it. 'But I should at least thank them. After all, they seem to care about me and they did save my life.' The young woman brought a finger to her lips before whispering "At least...for now..." She then averted her gaze to the full-body mirror that stood next to her, quietly observing her reflection. 'My. I guess...I have changed these past two years...And not for the better, either, I'm afraid.'

The sound of the fusama sliding open made her jump slightly. She turned around to see Genkai who smiled. Michiru blushed slightly, then bowed and said, "I-I'm sorry...I've been so much trouble. P-" "You haven't been any trouble, my dear. I would feel the same as you if I were stuck in a house full of strangers. I wouldn't want to reveal my name either." Michiru looked up abruptly, then replied "Oh, no no no no! It's not that I don't trust you. I just..." she raised her gaze to Genkai's level and smiled gently. "I'm just concerned about my family...and the well being of you and the other kind boys who rescued me." Surprisingly, Genkai laughed, causing Michiru to tilt her head in question. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that...you saying 'kind boys' makes me want to show you what moronic hotheads they can be when you've known them as long as I have."

Michiru raised an eyebrow. "My. What a...interesting...view you have on them." she smiled while sweat-dropping. Genkai laughed again. "Oh, never mind that. Come, you must want to clean up after today, right?" Michiru smiled, eyes shut and nodded eagerly. Genkai smiled. 'She's still the same adorable child I remember...' "Alright then. Follow me. I'll show you to the bathroom." Spirits high, Michiru practically skipped out of the guest room, unaware that someone very far away was watching her every move...

Phew. Chapter ten is now done. I swear, I have been a slow writer lately. Also considering I have had projects due in almost every class. Boy, being a sophomore sucks. X Anyway, what do you think of Michiru? Seems like a sweet gal to me. And how does Genkai know her? Let's just say it has something to do with her past...other than that, I ain't saying nothing. =P