Anyway, thanks to everyone who gave reviews! I love you all! And to reward you for reviewing, I hereby present you with…another chapter of ferrygirl-induced mayhem! Because we all loves us some Kinsenka!
Or something. Last chapter, Kinsenka died and was very nicely informed that she was dead and now she was gonna fly dead people around on a stick. So let's see how she handles…TRAINING. Yes. Training. Safuran is owned by Chloe, Ran is owned by Shin-san, Fuji is owned by Mizu-chan and Kinpouge is owned by Rein.
Two days after her death (she still flinched whenever she thought about it), Kinsenka sat cross-legged on the floor with about four other ferrygirls. Most of their costumes consisted of kimonos, although Kinsenka wore the outfit of a shrine maidena white blouse and red hakama.
A young woman with hair a darker crimson than Kinsenka's stood squarely in front of them, arms folded over her chest. Narrowed amethyst eyes roved over the cowering girls before her hand suddenly shot forward. In a flash of yellow light, an oar was pointed directly at the nose of a raven-haired girl in a green kimono.
"You!" She barked. "State your name and summon your oar!"
With a squeak, the girl shot to her feet, although she was wobbling badly. "F-Fuji, Nobara-sensei," she stammered, but before she could get any further than that, the oar whapped her on the head.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CALLING ME SENSEI!" The woman thundered, rising up to her full height of five feet and nine inches.
"I-I don't remember!" Fuji whimpered, fully panicking by now.
"You said to address you with the suffix of 'sama'," another ferrygirl, this one with curly golden hair volunteered helpfully. She wore a black kimono over a lighter yellow one and was currently engrossed in skillfully braiding her long tresses.
"And you said that you'd beat us into the ground if we didn't," said yet another girl. She had light purple hair worn in a long braid and two kimonos: the upper being a pale yellow and the lower a darker purple.
Nobara nodded to both of them, before turning her scowling attention back on the terrified Fuji. "Safuran and Ran are quite correct. 'Sama' is reserved for important people held in high esteem. While I am your instructor, I am your most important person and expect to be treated as such. AM I UNDERSTOOD?"
"Hai", "Whatever", "Uh-huh", "Of course!", and a squeak answered her.
"AM I UNDERSTOOD!" Nobara roared and they quailed under her fury.
"Hai, Nobara-sama!" The students chorused obediently.
The woman allowed herself a faint grin before it was instantly replaced by a grim tightening of the mouth. "Fuji! Produce that oar! Stop hesitating!"
The poor ferrygirl was trembling like a leaf, and Kinsenka was slowly developing a deep pit of utter despair in the depths of her stomach. "H-hai…Nobara…sama!" With a grimace, there was a glimmer of yellow light and a shining oar popped into her hand. She immediately tightened her grip around the wood and smiled, relaxing her tense posture slightly.
"…Good, although student delayed on proper summoning technique…" The redhead's voice trailed off into a low muttering as she scribbled on a clipboard. "Next!"
A tall girl in a red kimono brushed a strand of short blonde hair away from her face and stood up, bowing gracefully. "Kinpouge." The oar appeared within two seconds of her stating her name.
"Excellent."
Safuran and Ran took their turns and each managed to summon their oars successfully on their first tries. Then…
"Next!"
That single word invoked such dread and terror in Kinsenka's very soul that the twelve-year-old was temporarily frozen to her spot.
"Do you intend to keep me waiting?" Nobara's crimson eyebrows snapped together and Kinsenka flinched. Ran, seated comfortably beside her, patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and the girl rose unsteadily, walking out to face the others.
"My name's Kinsenka." Good, halfway there… With that simple introduction, she glared at her hand and concentrated. She'd been practicing every day, with fruitless results, but if she failed now…
There! Had that been a golden spark she'd glimpsed? More than a spark now…the light had brightened and the oar was taking shape. Incredibly relieved, Kinsenka reached out to grasp it and show her brand new oar to her classmates and…
…found herself holding onto a broom. A very SHINY broom, but a broom nonetheless.
Despite the fact that no personage under the age of fifteen (or fourteen, in Yusuke's case) should know any curse words, Kinsenka had quite the arsenal at her disposal and proceeded to (mentally) call the broom every single bad wordthat existedthe dictionary (and even those that didn't).
"Kinsenka." Nobara's voice was extremely flat. No anger, no amusement, just blankness.
Oh damn. She was in trouble now. "Hai…?"
"Explain the assignment to me."
The redhead swallowed hard. "Summon an oar."
"And what is that thing you're holding?"
You've already died once, she tried to reassure herself. Dying a second time won't be so bad! "Umm…a…broom?"
"Are brooms oars?"
"N-no…"
"Do you see any ferrygirls in Reikai flying brooms?"
"No…"
Nobara suddenly chuckled, and five pairs of eyes lit up with astonishment. "You'll be our first, then."
Along with the astonished eyes, five sets of jaws simultaneously dropped.
"B-but I…I didn't form an oar!" Kinsenka sputtered, wondering if there was something crucial that she had missed entirely.
"No, but the broom should prove sufficient enough for travel. The traveling apparatus summoned always depends on the ferrygirl. They've always been taught to make an oar. However, it could just as easily be a mop or a vacuum cleaner…or, in your case, a broom."
"…" said Kinsenka.
"This demonstrates that you think outside the box. But I don't want any 'witch' jibes, got it?" Nobara was suddenly stern again and the girl instantly nodded. "That goes for all of you! If I hear any of you making fun of that broom, you'll be facing King Enma!"
"Hai, Nobara-sama," they murmured.
Kinsenka stared down at her broom. Great. Barely a few days of being dead and she'd already created a stir.
She only hoped nothing else would happen to mark her from the others.
Three Years Later
"H-hey! Fly straight, you idiotic reincarnated stick!" Kinsenka jerked sharply on the broom handle and the broom respondedby bucking and throwing her off.
Safuran leaned off her oar and caught the girl's hand, hauling her onto the oar. "I never thought a broom could have so much personality…"
"It's not personality," Kinsenka grumbled. "It's evilness. That damned broom is DEMONIC! It hates me! It's always fighting me and trying to fly off on its own and it ALWAYS gets into trouble!"
The other girl's dancing brown eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Sounds like someone I know."
"Don't even think about comparing me to that…that…that dead wood!" The redhead scowled, but remembered to thank her friend as Safuran set her down. She retrieved her errant broom and stomped into the main building, greeting the white-haired ferrygirl at the front desk with a cheerful wave and tripping over a glossy black cat, who had been taking a nap smack-dab in the middle of the floor.
"Itai! Shinkou, what are you doing, napping there?"
The cat opened a weary golden eye and regarded her as if she was a blathering idiot. You already know what I was doing, so why ask?
"Do you always have to act so cocky?"
Yes. Do YOU always have to be so klutzy and temperamental?
Kinsenka sighed. Shinkou had been a present from another ferrygirl friend. Hinagiku, who ran the Spirit Egg Hatchery, had handed a glowing golden egg to the redhead a year ago, with no explanation whatsoever. On her fourteenth birthday, the egg had hatched, spilling out a squalling black lump of fur into her hands. Unlike most Spirit Beasts, he was very vocal and sarcastic, but he had his endearing moments and he was a very loyal companion...when he wasn't griping about his friend's stupidity.
And why do you still look like you're twelve? The feline asked, sounding rather exasperated. You're fifteen! You COULD change your appearance!
The girl made a face. "I COULD, but I don't feel like it. When I do, I will."
"Oh, Kinsenka?" The receptionist-like ferrygirl glanced up, interrupting their conversation. "Koenma-sama wanted to see you. He says it's very urgent." A pause. Then… "Nobara-san is with him."
Her TEACHER was with her BOSS? She hadn't done anything bad! Well…except for starting that food fight during break yesterday…but Chuurippu had continued it, so she wasn't to blame! Chuurippu…Safuran…Ran, Fuji, Nobara, Botan…Kinsenka…why had they all been named after flowers, anyway? Suppose she'd been named Mari or something…would she have ended up a ferrygirl? Was being named after a thing with petals that caused allergies a prerequisite to becoming a ferrygirl?
Mokuren, the receptionist, coughed into her hand, and Kinsenka lost track of her thoughts. "…Oh! I'll go in there right away, then!" She bowed, then scooped up Shinkou and pushed open the doors that led to Koenma's office.
Nobara and the child ruler both looked up as she entered and their expressions became sober.
"Kinsenka…" Koenma began, placing his folded hands on his desk and leaning forward. "This may be extremely hard for you…"
Uh-oh.
OOC
Eheheh…after FOREVER, I update! -triumphant pose- Thanks to everyone who waited this long! I'm such a bad person, I swear. I don't deserve you all. -sigh- Anyway. Just what does Koenma have to say to his newest ferrygirl? Hiei alert in next chapter! Speaking of which…NEXT chapter!
Hiei experiences some trouble with an opponent and is poisoned! And…yeah. He sorta…dies. O.O
Kinsenka learns of her first assignment: Hiei wasn't supposed to die. So now she must become his assistant and aid him in coming back to life! But why HER? And how can she help Hiei when she doesn't even know what he looks like, her cat insists on coming along, and her broom won't fly straight?
A bit of angst as Kinsenka takes a quick detour to see how her father's been doing ever since her and her mother's death.
That's it, everyone! I'll see you in Chapter 3!
