I hate this new chapter uploader thing. It automatically gets rid of certain things while I try to fix it. angry
"Obligation and Duty"
Chapter 9.54.2 .oOAto, Rei, Bob, Joe, Billy-boy, and Chiba are mine. Oh wait, forget about the middle three
#Chrno watches Author as she bangs head on desk# Uhmm... #I'm sexy when I'm evil#
#Author moves to wall# I have wasted my life. Here's more confusion and filler chapters. #bangs away#
Rei was walking home from school a few days later when she ran into someone.
"Gosh, I do that a lot," she muttered as she looked up to apologize. A guy about her age was leaning forward to help her up. He had slightly curly blonde hair and wicked blue eyes.
"Sorry," he said when she took his hand. He helped her up and picked up the test she had accidentally dropped.
"Rei Amerasu?" he asked. "Yeah," she nodded.
He smiled, "Hi. My name's Kiyoshi Mitarai. I think I've heard of you before... I think one of the girls at my school said something about you"
Rei rolled her eyes and started to wonder how many people in this town knew about her. Kiyoshi tapped his chin in thought and finished, "I think your name was in a fashion magazine. Then again, I could be wrong"
"Ehhhh?" Rei instantly forgot her musings. Rei took the paper from him, rushedly said "Sorry, nice meeting you, bye!" and ran for 'mnIfEst0'. She burst through the door and went straight for Cameron.
"I had nothing to do with it!" he instantly held up his hands and tried to get out of her line of fire.
"Oh?" Rei asked, stalking towards him. "You don't even know what I'm here for"
Matt appeared at her side. "But I do"
She turned to him and noticed the glint in his eye. "What did you do"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just sent in a few pictures you had taken of our stuff. And thanks to me, our name and yours is now out there in the land of fashion"
Rei turned to Cameron. "Did you know about this?" she asked, hoping he didn't.
But he nodded. And then he noticed Rei's look. "They were the best we had! And we wanted to get people to recognize our brandname"
"No one thought of asking me"
Matt and Cameron looked at each other. "Why should we?" Matt finally asked. "By taking pictures of OUR clothes and using OUR camera, you give us the right to choose from whoever's photographs for certain"
He stopped when he noticed Rei's dropped jaw. She looked like she was about ready to cry, but didn't know why. She looked down for a moment and then asked, "Do you guys need me around here for a few years"
Cameron and Matt shared another look before Matt got it. "Are you going? To the school"
Rei sniffled and nodded slightly. "I think I will"
.oOEasier said than done, huh? she thought as she laid on her stomach on her bed that night. She had the papers Matt had given her for that school. She didn't know how she was going to pay for this, and even more so, explain this to everyone. She figured Botan would probably flip out; Yusuke'd probably be a little sad, but mostly indifferent; Hiei would DEFINITELY be indifferent; Kurama'd probably be slightly upset.
"Hmmmmm..." she but her eraser and signed her name on the bottom of the application. "Maybe I should wait till the end of the year before sending it?" she asked herself as she sat up and looked at the paper. She walked over to her drawer and stuffed the papers away. She decided she'd wait a while; but she'd start hinting at leaving for a few months so it wouldn't be so sudden to anyone.
But it took her almost a month before she said anything really. And Yusuke himself was thinking about leaving as well. Only he wasn't talking about just another country.
"You're what!" Rei asked in a loud whisper. He had hijacked her and stuffed her in the hall closet with himself. Yusuke held a finger to his lips and 'shhh-ed' her.
"In a few days, it'll be my birthday. I'm seriously planning on going to Demon World again to find the bastard who took my body over in the fight with Sensui," he whispered back.
"For your whole highschool career? Shouldn't you graduate first?" Yusuke shrugged, "Doesn't matter. I'm way behind anyways"
Rei gave him a concerned look, but asked instead, "You haven't told the others yet, huh"
"If I had, why would we be in the linen closet?" he winked playfully.
"Gee, now that's a question. What ARE we doing in the closet?" Rei rolled her eyes. There was a slight pause in conversation before Rei decided to straight out tell Yusuke what she was planning.
"Paris?" he asked afterwards.
She nodded.
"In France"
"No, Switzerland, Yusuke"
"How are you going to pay for that"
She sighed, "No idea. I'll think of something"
He nodded, "You're gonna havta"
He opened the door but stopped and looked behind him to say, "It sounds like a good idea, though. I saw those pictures you took. It seems to suit you"
With that, he smiled and walked into the living room. Rei sat on the floor of the closet for a while before Kurama stopped in front of the door.
"Are you alright in there?" he asked, leaning one arm against the doorframe.
"I'm getting there," she answered.
"What's wrong"
Rei shook her head and got up. "Nothing really. Just thinking." She started to walk away before she stopped and decided to lay the first hint, "Hey, Kurama. Do you think you'll ever go to a university"
Kurama stopped and thought for a moment. "I don't know," he finally shrugged. "I've never thought about it. I'll probably just finish highschool and get a job"
"Oh"
"What about you"
Rei smiled, "Probably"
"Okay, Yusuke's in Demon world; Hiei is who-know's-where, and Kurama is currently looking after his new step-brother," Rei counted off on a warm day at the end of July. Kurama's mom had gotten married earlier that month; it was a small ceremony, only family and close friends attended. Yusuke, as was said, was already in Demon world, so only Kuwabara and herself were invited on the "close friends" list.
"So who does that leave?" she tapped her pencil against the paper she was going to use to list people. She was trying to find someone to leave the house to. .oOJeez, where's Ato when you need her
Rei got up and walked around the house. She checked all the places Ato usually haunted, but the spirit was nowhere to be found. Finally, Rei gave up and decided to head to town.
Walking through town, Rei realized she was going to have to make a lot of changes. She didn't even know french! How in the world did she think she would be able to survive highschool in a totally different country? She'd managed to find benefits and scholarships for exchange students, but she didn't know how much that'd actually cover.
Sighing, she sat down on a near-by bench. "What's wrong," she heard everyone's favorite red-head ask.
Kurama was standing there with his step-brother, Suuichi. Rei smiled-- similar names, nothing alike. "I'm leaving"
Kurama looked puzzled. "Huh?" he asked.
"I'm going to France for highschool"
Suuichi decided now would be the best time for him to leave. Kurama sat down next to her. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Exactly what I said. I'm... I'm..." tears started falling. She didn't want to cry. Why; WHY when she finally made up her mind to go; finally made up her mind to tell him, she starts to cry? Kurama put his arm around her and let her cry against his chest; shielding her from everyone's questioning gaze. "Rei," he whispered close to her ear. "I'm going to Demon World"
She stopped crying and looked up to see if he was joking. "What"
"Only for August, but Yomi will probably find a way to keep me there longer"
"Yomi? Why do you have to go"
Kurama finally realized that neither he nor Hiei had told her anything about the message-balls that Yomi and Mukuro had sent them, respectively. He decided to quickly sum it all up.
"So that's where Hiei's been..." she finally understood.
Kurama nodded, "Yes, and that's where I'll be"
"But you'll all be against each other"
"We've been on opposing sides for lots of things," Kurama reminded with a sad sort of smile. Rei sighed and looked down.
"Who'm I gonna leave my house to then"
Kurama thought for a minute. Finally, he gave up. "There really is no one, huh?" he asked.
"My thoughts exactly"
"We could give it back to Ato"
"Have you seen her the past few months"
"No"
"Me neither"
"That's 'cause I've been ALIVE"
Both of them jumped practically out of their socks and looked behind the bench where Ato was standing. She was wearing maroon wind-breakers, a teal-green turtleneck and a matching vest. Of course, she had on one of her signature poofy-hats.
"Alive"
"Yeah. Touch me," she said with a malicious grin. Kurama did; she WAS flesh and blood.
"I... what happened?" Rei asked.
Ato sat her backside on the back of the bench as she explained:
"Koenma decided that I'd probably never get un-restless enough to 'move on', so he decided to give me a body for a while. I'm not sure how long or even if it's not permanent"
Rei had found her answer. "You're taking care of my house," she said.
Ato rolled her eyes. "It was my house to begin with, baby"
With that, she walked off; only waving behind her as a goodbye.
"Well, that's taken care of..." Kurama mused.
"When are you leaving"
"Very soon"
"Then I guess I should say goodbye now," Rei leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She got up and decided to go back home before Ato tore the house up.
"Rei," Kurama stopped her by calling. "Will you ever come back"
She turned and flashed a grin, "What do you think"
Rei shifted her backpack to the other shoulder and sighed. She had just gotten off the plane, and there were TOO many people speaking french. .oOWhere's a translator when you need one
Kurama had left only a few days after she had said goodbye. She knew this because it seemed Ato still had some "ghostly powers." Rei had also visited Asato Kido in the hospital. He seemed a little upset with the news, but only because now he'd actually have to study. They bantered a little too loudly before the nurse came in and kicked Rei out. Ato and Rei had even gotten along a little on the last day. Atleast they liked the same band.
"Crap. Crap crap crap," Rei sighed again. Well, she was here; now what was she supposed to do?
"Ehh... Ma foi! You're the Japanese exhange student, n'est ce pas?" a guy about her age said, skipping in and out of French. Rei just nodded, hoping she had understood the question correctly.(forgive me; I don't speak French)
"Ahhh... trés bon! I am Paien; I'm your welcoming committee. Come, I'll take you to the school," he turned and walked towards a bus with the school's name on the side. It was filled with other freshmens from different countries.
Amazingly enough, Rei felt like she was going to fit right in.
