A/N: Hey everyone, feel free to throw eggs at me for being SOOOO late in posting the next chapter of this little fic. Gomen nasai! This will be a bit broken-up looking; as it switches POVs seemingly every two seconds, but just bear with it. I'll try to be quicker next time!
Select Review Responses (because they make the page go on forever…):
Pierce: Thanks for your support, naturally… and thanks for being my Beta reader; that REALLY helped. ^__^
Siora: Yeah, it's supposed to be funny, but it's secondary Genre or category or whatever you wanna call it is set as "General" and not as humor, so I have the range to make a chapter not completely humorous… * shrugs* Oh well, hope this one doesn't bore you! ^__~
Kimiko Kashibara: Yes, you rock. ^__^
Lil' Fairy: Just wait… you'll see. All shall be revealed in due time… in due time…
Lita: I'm sorry! I know, I was supposed to be early… then this thing called College started up again, and INSISTED that it was more important than my pretty fan fiction writings. Stupid college. What does it know anyways… hmph.
Digi girl: I can understand your 2cents. Don't apologize, I was hoping I hadn't offended you, but I figured if you wanted to read it, you'd come back when you could. Hope you keep reading!
Wings of Blood: Woohoo! Mickey D's go BOOM alright! ^_____^
Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!!
Oh Yeah, a disclaimer… Guess I ought to make one, eh?
DISCLAIMER: I do not now, nor have I ever owned Yu Yu Hakusho, Wal-Mart, or any other thingies and wapadoodles that may or may not be mentioned in this chapter, nor the ones before it, nor nay yet the ones that shall proceed to follow it. Honest. Now go ahead and read…
Chapter 7: "It All Goes Wrong P. II"
Scene 1:
"Tell me again what we're doing here, Urameshi?"
Yuusuke kept walking, but responded patiently, "I told you six times, Kuwabara, I'm trying to find a birthday present for Keiko."
"Oh," the taller boy said as they walked through the entrance to Wal-Mart. "Don't you want to get her something nice?" He pointed toward the jewelry section when they got inside.
"Yeah, of course, baka, but I've got a cash limit smaller than Koenma. That's why we're here… Wal-Mart's got everything, so it's cheaper," Yuusuke explained as he made a beeline for clearance racks of girls' clothes. He started thumbing through the racks almost apathetically, only half-heartedly searching for something Keiko would like. "I don't understand why she can't just tell me what to get her… It'd make this whole thing so much easier!" he practically whined as he looked through the third set of clothes, again not seeing anything that proclaimed, "buy me!" for Keiko.
Kuwabara scoffed slightly, assuming a macho stance and expression. "Girls…" he stated, "never make anything easy if they can help it." He shook his head. "I don't get 'em either, Urameshi."
"You don't "get" girls either way, you buffoon," said a voice from somewhere behind the two.
Yuusuke and Kuwabara quickly whirled around to see to whom the insulting voice belonged, and were surprised to be greeted by Hiei.
"What are you doing here, Hiei?" Yuusuke asked, rather grateful for a distraction from his indecision. He put down his several choices of gifts quickly, not wishing to stand there talking while holding an armload of girly stuff… He glared a bit as Kuwabara proceeded to snicker at him for being caught.
"Hn," was the fire demon's only reply as he turned and walked off down the walkway aisle between clothing racks, disappearing after only a moment.
Yuusuke watched him go, a bit surprised. "Hey… Well that was weird."
"Yeah," Kuwabara spoke up as Yuusuke began re-gathering his plethora of selections. "Wonder where he's headed…"
Finally giving up on the pile and dropping everything on a countertop with an exasperated sigh, Yuusuke growled, "I'll never find a stupid present in time…"
"When's her birthday again?" Kuwabara asked, momentarily distracted as a hanging TV screen displayed a cartoon commercial.
"Ahh… Sometimes this week I think. It's not tomorrow or nothin', c'mon, Kuwabara, let's go… I'll look later." With that, Yuusuke headed out of the girls department and towards the doors without so much as a glance behind him as he went.
"Yeah, sure thing, Urameshi…" Kuwabara responded to no one as his friend had already walked out of earshot. He turned from the commercial with a chuckle to find that he'd been left. "Now where's he gone…" he started, turning around to look in several different directions. In doing this, however, he spotted Hiei silently and quickly scaling the rafters of the store's Garden Center. He watched as Hiei settled into a spot perched on a crossbeam, and seemed to be watching something in particular down on the store's floor. Kuwabara tried to see what Hiei was spying at, but he couldn't see past people and shelves. He began to slowly make his way through the crowd to that area of the store.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hiei balanced himself on the rafters above the Garden Center and searched for his quarry. It wasn't hard to find his target, as the long line of female customers pointed the way quite nicely to where Kurama was working. Waiting for the right moment of opportunity, he settled in to watch the fox's movements until he could make his own.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For the third day in a row, Kurama found himself plagued by line upon line of fawning female patrons who seemed to want much more than the store's actual merchandise for sale. He could hear them talking to each other behind him, discussing who would catch the boy's eye first, and who would have a chance at a date. Little did they know that the gorgeous redhead had already made plans for that evening with a certain blue-haired ferry girl… who, unbeknownst to Kurama, had come to Wal-Mart just a few minutes earlier, and was making her way to the Garden Center to see him.
After waiting as long as he could stand, Kurama finally got permission to take his break. Leaving the lines of now disappointed teens, he headed back in the Garden Center to the peaceful spot he'd found before. This time, however, instead of sneaking up on him, Botan was already there, waiting for him. Kurama spotted her after only a moment, and grinned as he walked over towards her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Wasting time, fox?" Hiei mused quietly from his position high above the Garden Center's floor. He stood up a little more, and removed the cloth that covered his Jagan eye. Opening the eye, he concentrated on Kurama's mind. "Hn, I'll fix that…" with that thought in mind, and a soft purple glow emanating from his forehead, Hiei began his last effort of revenge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Through the shelves and crowds of people he was trying to get through, Kuwabara could see Hiei in the rafters still, though now obviously using his Jagan, judging from the glow. "What is he DOING?" Kuwabara thought as he desperately made his way to the Garden Center, which was directly under the fire demon.
When he had almost reached the entrance, his panic increased as he saw movement in the back aisles… but it was not the kind he had thought he would find. The plants and trees that occupied the Center were… growing? Rapidly, each plant and shrub doubled in size; emerging through each were vines and thorns that seemed to threaten the very customers around them. He watched, eyes wide, as people started to run away from that section of the store, some already scratched or fending off a tangling vine. In just moments, the entire Garden Center was overcome with huge menacing plants, seemingly bent on destruction. Through the sudden jungle, Kuwabara spotted Botan and Kurama both now trapped inside the Center. He tried to make his way inside, having to discreetly use his Spirit Sword to hack away the branches in his path, even though they sprang right back after each stroke and cut of his blade.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Inside the Garden Center, Botan was becoming more and more frightened, while Kurama seemed almost in a zombie-like state.
"Kurama, wh-what's going on?" she yelled over the din inside the now panic filled store. But the fox couldn't answer her question. For not only did he not quite know himself what was happening, he had no control over his actions. It was obvious to anyone who knew Kurama that the mayhem had been caused by his spirit power, but looking at his face, one would think he had as little to do with it as those who were now running out of the store.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Up above the growing craziness and pandemonium, Hiei stood smirking, obviously pleased with his work. He took one last view of his endeavor, then carefully found his way along the rafters towards the back exit of the building, of course keeping perfect balance.
Making sure that the plants had taken over at least half of the store, Hiei finally released his hold on his friend's mind and, recovering the Jagan, left Wal-Mart in a much better mood than he had been in for days.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kurama could tell immediately when he received control of his own mind once again. But in control or not, he was now trapped by vines and branches that he himself had brought to bear. He frantically began using and focusing his spirit energy on the retraction of the crawling devastating plants and vines from the store.
Just as Kurama was being held captive by his botanical creations, Botan found herself suspended several feet above the ground by numerous constricting vines. The more she struggled, the more the vines seemed to wrap around her arms and legs. "Help!" she yelled, realizing there was nothing she could do to help herself by now. "Kurama?!" She tried to find her boyfriend, but couldn't even see a glimpse of his red hair through the new foliage. "Anybody??"
"I'm coming!" came a valiant sounding yell through the veritable forest of green blocking Botan's view of the rest of the store. "Hold on!" The voice sounded closer, and crashing sounds could be heard as the would-be hero made his way towards the trapped girl.
As Botan watched, she could see a golden light shining through the plants and vines in front of her, and yelling could be heard. "I know that voice…" she said out loud to herself. "Oh! Kuwabara!" she exclaimed as the detective's spirit sword slashed through the last few layers dividing them.
Kuwabara looked up at her from his attempt at a macho entrance. "Wha—Hey, Botan, what's up? Why are you here?" he asked, taking a moment to scratch his head in curiosity.
"Never mind that, Kuwabara, would you mind terribly cutting me down?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, of course!" he shouted as he resumed the attitude of the hero of the day. He carefully cut the vines that had Botan ensnared, quickly enough for fear they too would re-generate. In a moment or two she was down from her position, and safe again. "C'mon," Kuwabara started, taking Botan's arm and looking for the best path for escape, "we've got to get out of here."
Botan quickly freed herself from the tall boy's grasp, and shook her head. "No, Kurama's still trapped in there! We have to help him!"
Not bothering to ask questions, Kuwabara nodded, ready to hack more plants when needed. Just as he was preparing to chop up a path, however, Kurama emerged from the forest of vines, and headed towards them slowly, looking exhausted. Botan ran to him immediately. "Are you alright?" she asked as the redhead stopped walking and stood a bit shakily.
Kurama nodded as best as he could, and gave her a weak smile. "Yes. I'm glad to see you weren't injured. I reversed as much of the damage as I could, but the store will still be filled with plants soon, so we'd better get out of here quickly." Even as he spoke, Kurama looked ready to collapse from lack of energy. Kuwabara promptly helped him stand, taking one arm while Botan took the other, and the three headed out of the building as swiftly as possible to get Kurama home.
Scene 2: ReiKai
After giving Kurama a few days to rest and recuperate, Koenma summoned both him and Hiei to Spirit World. Once he had them there, and had attained their undivided attention, he proceeded to lambaste them with a tirade of such force that it had Kurama grimacing and Hiei's eye twitching.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! How could you put innocent human lives in danger like that?! Botan could have been killed! I'd be out a perfectly good assistant, and it'd have been all you two's fault! You made things so bad, I hear that Kuwabara was the one who had to save her… I can't believe you let things get that out of hand… I sent you to get jobs to keep you OUT of trouble, and you still manage to make it!…" Koenma rattled on and on in this manner for what seemed like hours to the two demons, even though it only actually lasted for about twenty minutes.
Finally, having tired himself out too much to continue his angry ranting, Koenma ceased his yelling and took a deep breath and sighed to himself. He spoke again, though this time in a softer voice, "Sometimes I wonder if you two are more trouble than you're worth."
Hiei "hn"d, while Kurama sighed slightly, though not saying a word. Tiny toddler or not, both had learned it was smarter not to sass the Jr. ruler of Spirit World. After a long moment of silence, however, Kurama finally spoke up. "So," he began, his tone, of course, respectful, "what now, Koenma?" Both demons looked at the tot expectantly, awaiting his answer.
"What now?" Koenma repeated. "Now," he said, "you two get one more chance to find yourselves employment. NEW employment. It would be wise for you, Kurama, to avoid Wal-Mart now, and since Hiei has no building to return TO…" the last part said with a glare at the fire demon.
"Hn."
"So we have a second chance, then?"
Koenma nodded. "Yes, Kurama. But don't get me wrong, if you two manage to screw this next set of jobs up as royally as you did the last, you won't want to know what I'll do to reprimand you…" he let his voice trail off for dramatic effect, seeing the sweat dropped faces on the two before him.
Both demons nodded, and were dismissed; with a challenge of finding new jobs, hopefully with a less disastrous outcome…
~~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~
A/N: There you all go… Hopefully this chapter lived up to any and all expectations you had built up over the time in between postings! I am SO, so sorry for taking so long, I will do my VERY best to be quickly this time around! The next chapter should indeed be interesting… Please Review! ^__~ Ja!
-Draith
