(3-24-05) Next chapter... How exciting! Thank you again to reviewers, I have 282 right now and it continues to go up... I getabout 25 on each chapter... Right? From 256 to 282 is something like that, isn't it? I can't subtract. I solve quadratic equations, but I can't subtract.
Oh, Arisa gets increasingly more BLAH as time goes on and I kinda have towrite some kinda bad stuff to keep her in character, so don't hate me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make such a nasty character... It kinda just happened.
This chapter was almost titled "Chapter of Porn, Tight Leather, and Karasu" but I figured that would put bad thoughts in peoples' heads... And I was hyper beyond belief while trying to think of what to call it, so... Yeah, I had to think of something to call it... Had a hard time... Titles are getting harder and harder to think of lately... But yeah, there is tight leather and Karasu in this chapter... Just read it... I wrote it in January...
CHAPTER TWELVE
Fiestas!
The authoress (that'd be me, kids!) is all too aware that Christmas is a Christian holiday, and thus would not typically be celebrated in Japan, but not caring, Shadow threw a Christmas party anyway. Was she ever one to follow Japanese traditions or any particular religion or, as a matter of fact, any given set of rules? No. Now, this party wasn't half as elaborate as the one she'd thrown the previous year (the one that had landed them all in prison... you remember that, don't you, faithful reader?), and that was mostly due to the fact that Hiei had to work that night. No sake for Hiei.
While we're on the topic, Hiei had passed his police exams with flying colors, but that didn't mean jack squat in his mind. So he knew the rules and the consequences. It didn't matter. Kyoukan was dragging him around on a very short leash, so it was almost gauranteed that he would be pardoned from anything but the most serious of offenses. He'd gone out on several of their missions, saved the day, and most of the officers liked him well enough. They liked Shadow, too, and when she came to visit, they all got along great and had great big fiestas! Minus the fiestas. And Shadow seemed to be visiting Hiei at work more and more often as the weeks went on.
As the authoress writes this, she just has this image of lil' Hiei in her mind with his gun in his lil' police officer uniform... She's overpoweringly tempted to draw said image... Just like that chibi Karasu... It's adorable, really. As I was saying...
The Christmas party was hard-pressed to be called a party. It was just a typical gathering like the group had almost every weekend, only this time the house was decked out in colorful shiny things and a tree, and there were cookies. Lots of cookies. And presents.
Yusuke was still trying to get all his friends involved in 'the finer things in life,' which, for him, were porn, manga, and fighting. Being as all his friends were already kick-ass fighters, he again tried to get Kurama to look at porn (in the end, this struggle wound up with Yusuke pinning the boy to the floor and forcing him to look at one of these nasty magazines, which Kurama complained about and eventually had a couple of Shadow's house plants attack him and didn't release the pervert until Hiei had burned the porn he'd been looking at). After this endeavor ended in failure, Yusuke had jabbed his nose into Hiei's relationship with Shadow, asking about all the things they'd done. Receiving a severe beating for this, he ended up staggering upstairs to watch Eclipse play the fighting game he'd gotten her.
Everybody else was a bit more considerate in their gift giving. That is, up until a certain silver fox showed his face. A smirk playing on his lips, he produced a set of handcuffs from a pocket in his pants and handed them to Shadow.
"I figured that since Hiei has a pair, with his job at the prison and all, it'd only be fair if you also had some. You know. I'm sure you can find a use for them, being the creative individual you are, Shadow."
Shadow turned bright red and chased him halfway down the street. Yusuke, of course, having just-so-coincidentally come downstairs at that precise moment, heard this and was instantly at Hiei's side, nagging at him.
"Handcuffs, eh? Is that like, standard for demons? To handcuff their mate? Or are you two just trying out kinky things?"
Hiei delivered a spin kick to Yusuke's chest and sent him flying out the door into the snow. Abandoned with Kuwabara, the fire demon went in search of his girlfriend and Youko. It took a very short amount of time to find them, as they were already returning. Or, to be more precise, Youko was returning with Shadow over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey, I think you lost this," he said, adjusting her to hold out in his arms for Hiei to take. She glared at the fox, then noticed Hiei and smiled widely.
"Hi Hiei! He kidnapped me. Are you here to save me?"
Hiei smiled a bit and took her from the fox. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Aishite'ru, Hiei!"
Youko snorted and mocked her in a snobby voice. "Ai-shi-te-ru, Hi-e-i... You two are detestable. Especially you, Hiei."
"Silence, O High Lord Jealous Fox!" Shadow ordered, pointing at him threateningly. She jumped out of Hiei's arms and grabbed Youko's shirt. "I can't believe you're so OOC! How dare you be OOC! You're jealous! Just because Hiei loves me and not you!"
"WHAT?" Hiei and Youko both cried.
"Hiei's a child," Youko said. "You can keep him."
"Youko's a... well, he's Youko," Hiei said. "I think that says it all."
"What's that supposed to mean!" the fox asked, sounding insulted. "I'm a very respectable person!"
"Slut," Shadow coughed. Youko clubbed her in the side of the head.
"I am not a slut. I'm a highly attractive being. Some hold me in the respect of a God."
"Yeah, and they're delusional."
"I'm not talking to you anymore," Youko huffed. "You're rude. Your lover has rubbed off on you."
"Who, Hiei?"
"Do you have any other lover? If so, do tell!"
"Yeah, Kuwabara," she said sarcastically. "Back to what I was saying, are you implying that Hiei is rude? Hiei is not rude! He's a sweetie. He's just the cutest little thing. Hardly rude."
"Kuwabara?" Youko choked.
"Jeez, you're still back there? You're a little slow! I'm way past that!"
"Yes, but, Kuwabara? If you were going to make a sarcastic remark about that, you could at least say somebody believable, like me."
"But you'd know if we were lovers. And Yusuke has a girlfriend. That left me with Eclipse and Kuwabara. I'm not a lesbian, and that left me with Kuwabara. Unless you would rather I'd have said Karasu?"
Hiei slapped his hand over her mouth as Youko gagged, and he dragged her away.
The remainder of the night was spent rejoicing the Christmas Spirit... That is, everywhere but Shadow's house. In her house, the remainder of the night was spent eating cookies, singing carols (with modified lyrics... ahem...), harassing a certain pair of pyromaniacs, beating the crap out of each other, and then, at precisely 9:56 PM, Shadow decked herself out in her motorcycle leather and avoided Youko, for she knew if he saw her, she wouldn't get out the door by precisely 9:57, and Hiei would be late for work. And when you have an asshole like Mouken Kyoukan for a boss, late is not an option. So, using her brilliant ninja skills, she nimbly left through the fourth floor window. Why the fourth floor, when she dressed on the second? Why go upstairs just to jump out a window? The answer is simple: She's Shadow.
And so, at exactly 9:57 PM, the motorcycle started up, Hiei hanging onto Shadow, and zoom they went, off to the police station, arriving at EXACTLY 9:59, being in the door and at his desk by the time Kyoukan peered out of his office window at exactly 10:00.
By 11:00, Shadow was sleeping in a chair she'd pulled up next to Hiei's, her head resting on her arms on his desk. Shortly after, Kyoukan came out of his office and crossed the station to Hiei. While everybody else obeyed, even feared, the man, Hiei merely tolerated him. He'd gotten caught up in this whole screwed up net of events in Ningenkai, and it irritated him. It wasn't as simple as just leaving now. He had Shadow, two jobs, people in this world knew him and knew his fake identity. Lies are almost always uncovered, and he knew it. Eventually, he figured he would be forced to return to Makai, to just vanish off this Earth, if only to flee the suspicions of dozens, if not hundreds, of overly-curious ningen fools.
"I want her gone," Kyoukan said, pointing at Shadow. "You bring your personal life with you to work and it's unacceptable. I want your full attention on your job, not your girlfriend."
"I pay her no mind. And I do not bring her here, she comes of her own will."
"Whatever the reason, she's here, and I do not want her here. She's not an officer, she's distracting not only you, but several others, and I will not stand for it any more. Send her home."
Hiei narrowed his eyes. "You know, you are more distracting than she is. It's much better she be here than not. I enjoy her company."
"I don't care. You have a case tonight anyway."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you in my office, after this girl is gone." He spun and left. Sighing, Hiei gently tapped Shadow's arm. She blinked awake.
"Uhn?"
"You need to go home, Shadow."
The sleep cleared from her eyes. "Why? Is Kyoukan being an ass again?"
"Yeah. Go on. I've got a case to work anyway."
"Alright..." she sighed. Kissing his cheek, the girl got up and left. Hiei went to Kyoukan's office.
"She's gone. Happy?"
"No, but it'll do. Now, about your case... At midnight, a club downtown will be having a rave. I assume you know what that is?"
"Yes."
"Good. You'll be attending."
Hiei's eyebrow raised a fraction. "Indeed."
"Yes. A relatively reliable informant has reported that he heard plans for an exchange at this rave. He knows who is involved, however, we're not entirely sure what will be exchanged. My suspicion is drugs." At this, Hiei had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. He'd been put through several dozen drug tests during his physical before being added to the force. Kyoukan seemed to suspect everything and everyone of drug affiliation.
"O-kay... And?"
"I am not sending you alone"
"Of course."
"and you'll need to wear this." He grabbed a brown paper wrapped parcel off his desk and tossed it to Hiei. "No complaints. It's what they wear, and you need to blend in."
"Who's going with me?"
"Her name is Hisa Morishima. She's experienced in these matters. I'm sure the two of you will get along great." The last part was a threat, meaning that he was fairly sure they wouldn't get along great, but Hiei had better do his damnedest to try, or else he was in for trouble when he returned with a failed case.
"I'm sure we will," Hiei replied, agreeing that fine, whatever, he'd try to get along with the bitch. "So how do I know who I'm looking for?"
"Your contact at the rave will tell you."
Hiei looked at him, plainly asking him to elaborate.
"Remember Karasu?" Kyoukan asked. At this, Hiei allowed his annoyed, indifferent facade to falter.
"Yes, I know Karasu. Don't tell me he's my contact?"
"He's your contact, and you will not dispute with him. Understand?"
"Fine."
"You know the consequences for acting out on an undercover case, don't you?"
"I'm not going to do any drugs, get anyone laid, kill anyone unless it's necessary, blow my cover, get terribly drunk, et cetera, et cetera and so on. Happy?"
"Fine. Hisa should be ready. Go change. You're to be there at midnight."
"Okay..."
"Oh, and you'll need this. Fake I.D." He tossed the wallet to Hiei just before the fire demon left the office.
"Way to wait 'til the last second to tell me," he muttered, pocketing it and leaving. He went to the locker rooms and opened the paper-wrapped parcel. His eyes narrowed in annoyance as they saw what he'd be forced to wear. Around Karasu, no less. In public, at a party where people danced and smoked and drank and fucked.
"Skanky," he muttered, one of Shadow's favorite words to describe her own outfits. He changed into the leather, frowning as it fit him perfectly, showing off his every contour, every muscle in his body. The boots gave him an inch or two height boost, which he frowned at. Impractical. He could cope, however. He was good at adjusting to change. It seemed to him that was all he'd been doing lately. Meet Shadow and your whole life is thrown completely out of your control.
Still looking quite sour, Hiei strode out of the locker room and went back to his desk, where he was a bit surprised and disgusted to find a woman he assumed was his partner on this case. I say disgusted because, if Shadow's outfits were skanky, this lady might as well have been naked and wearing knee-high boots with a four-inch heel. She was pretty much a living Barbie figure, only in skimpy skanky leather (like a bra and a few-inches-wide strip of fabric that I suppose you could call a skirt, for lack of better word), with unnaturally pink hair.
"Oh, dear, don't you look just good enough to eat, little Kagerou..." she purred, walking around him, her fingertips trailing across his body. Then she stepped back to observe his irritated disposition. "Stop glaring, Kagerou. We're going to enjoy ourselves."
"Speak for yourself," Hiei snarled.
"I've got a few additions to make to your cover. Just wait one minute." She reached in her purse and withdrew a handful of makeup. Hiei knew very little of makeup, but he did know it was not something he wanted put on him. As the woman picked up a small cylindrical thing, his glare intensified, until he had to control himself to avoid the happening of several objects in the room to spontaneously combust.
"Hold still," Morishima said, removing the lid.
"No. You're not putting that crap on me."
"It's eyeliner! It's not going to hurt you!"
"I don't care what it is, you're not putting it on me."
"Kyoukan-sama told me to, Kagerou."
Oh, how he loathed humans. "I have a name. Stop calling me that."
"I'll get this on you somehow, Hiei-chan. It'd be far easier for you to sit still."
Loathe! Abhor! Detest! "Isn't it enough you force me to put on skanky leather?"
"It's not skanky, it's sexy," Morishima purred. "Now either I put this makeup on you or Kyoukan-sama does. Take your pick."
Hiei again had to control himself to keep from burning down half the building. At that precise moment, the door opened and in came none other than Kurama. One look at Hiei and he just about ran across the station.
"What are you doing, Hiei?"
"Hiei-chan is preparing for a case," Morishima admonished, "and is not to be disturbed."
"I have to go to a rave," Hiei spat.
"What! You're going?"
"Yes. Orders."
"Well, so am I. Shadow is as well, and Eclipse. We'll talk later. I just wanted to let you know. I've got to get ready now, ja mata. And let the lady put on the makeup, Hiei. It won't hurt you." He spun and left. Morishima rounded on Hiei with a sinister grin.
"You heard your friend, Kagerou."
And of course, she couldn't just do eyeliner. Hiei ended up in some kind of all-out goth lookin' thing, black fingernails and all, by quarter 'till midnight.
At home, Shadow was decked out in leather, putting makeup on herself, Kurama, and Eclipse. All three were wearing tight black leather.
:ALLOW THE MAGICAL FLASHBACK FAERIES TO GUIDE YOU INTO EVENTS THAT HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED:
Youko's ears perked in his sleep as a motorcycle engine came down the road outside the house. He was certain it was Shadow, yet a bit startled. He hadn't expected her back for hours. Then again... Now he was all alone in the house with her. Possibilities were opening...
His reikai communicator beeped in his pocket, making him jump. Possibilities just took a nose dive. He dug out the compact and popped it open before it could beep again. Koenma's toddler face appeared on the screen. Simultaneously, Youko's face appeared on Koenma's big screen in Reikai.
"What do you want?" the fox asked lazily.
"What are you doing!" Koenma screeched.
"Well, I was sleeping..."
"I can't believe you're so irresponsible as to just lounge around Shadow's house in that form, Kurama!"
"Shut up. What do you want?"
"I need to speak to Shuuichi and Hiei."
"Hiei's not here, Junior. Call the police station."
Shadow came down the stairs just then in baggy clothes. "What about the police station? Oh! You're talking to Koenma!" She darted over and snatched the communicator. "Hi, Junior!"
"Put Kurama back on! I don't need to speak with you!"
"Too bad! How's the weather in Reikai, Koenma?"
"Shadow! I'm going to have you thrown in jail! This is an important mission that will require Kurama's delicate touch and intelligence."
"I'm delicate and intelligent. What is it? Come on, I'm bored beyond sanity's reason here, Koenma!"
"Shadow, I don't need you to screw this case up!"
"I can handle it, pansy girl! What is it?"
"KURAMA!"
Now back in his redhead form, the boy snatched the communicator back from Shadow. "Yes?"
"There will be a rave at midnight on the far side of town. You will be attending. I will send somebody down with your outfit after I explain this to you. Since Hiei is inaccessable at this time, you'll be doing this alone. It's vital not to mess it up."
"A rave?"
"Yes. I would think a genius like you would know what a rave is. It's"
"I know what it is, but why are you sending me? I'm hardly the type to fit in at one of those places."
"I know. But you will. We've received inside information that there will be an exchange between a demon and a human at this rave. It's a Makai herb that can be used in a wide variety of poisons as well as medicines. However, the former use is more common, and it can kill quickly. Ningen technology cannot trace it, so in essence, it is a perfect ningen murder weapon. I want you to find the demon possessing this herb, take it from him, and take him into custody. It would be best to capture both parties, the demon and the human, so you should, if possible, catch them in the act. I want the herb returned to me. Understand?"
"Yes. Do I have anything more to go on?"
"You can pick out demons, can't you? Just use your nose. It's at midnight, be prompt, and don't get into too much trouble. Give the bouncer your names. You should be on the list."
The screen went blank. A moment later, an ogre appeared in the middle of the living room, causing both Shadow and Kurama to jump.
"Here you go, sir," the oni said, bowing as it held out the outfit to Kurama. "From Koenma. You must wear it for your mission."
"Thank you," Kurama said, taking the leather and bowing slightly in return. The oni disappeared as fast as it had come.
"I'm going with you," Shadow said. "We've gotta wear skanky leather, have we? I'll be back in a few minutes."
A few minutes turned into twenty (in which time Kurama went to the police station, returned, and dressed), and when she came back, Eclipse was with her, both were in skintight black leather. Shadow looked Kurama over.
"You look good in skanky leather, Kurama."
"So do you. Both of you," he admitted. Shadow grinned devilishly.
"I'm taken. Go for Eclipse."
"Are we supposed to look goth or something? Or just slutty?" Eclipse asked, looking at herself. She'd either not heard or ignored Shadow's statement.
"I think we could use some makeup," Shadow muttered thoughtfully, looking at Kurama, then at herself in a mirror.
:THE MAGICAL FLASHBACK FAERIES RETURN YOU TO THE TIME OF NOW:
Hiei sighed and shifted uncomfortably in the passenger's seat of Hisa Morishima's sport car. She looked at him, smiling a bit.
"You seem uncomfortable, Kagerou. Nervous?"
"I'm not nervous, and would you stop calling me that!"
She shrugged. "It's fitting, though."
"It's not my name."
"Well I can't call you by your real name at the rave, koishii. I'll call you Kagerou. Deal with it. And remember, once we get there, my name is Yariman."
Hiei said nothing. He was too busy restraining himself from killing the lady. However, they shortly arrived at their destination.
Nothing on the outside of the building would suggest what they found inside. It just looked like a plain old brick building on the worse side of town. However, they went around the back and came to a decrepit-looking door with a slit in it. Two brown eyes peered out suspiciously, then brightened at the sight. The door opened.
"Yariman! And you brought a friend!"
"Thanks for letting us in, koishii," the woman said, kissing his lips. Hiei, hiding his revulsion, followed her inside.
The room wasn't brightly lit, but it was huge and full of activity and noise. Hiei's senses were nearly overwhelmed. People were dancing, drinking, smoking, and certain questionable noises from darker corners gave him some ideas of what else they might be doing. The lights flashed, dimmed, swirled; smoke hung in the air, the DJ was blasting headbangers music. Hundreds of scents, hundreds of ningens, music blaring... He felt hands on his shoulders and jumped as Morishima bent down and whispered in his ear.
"I don't know our contact, koi, so you'll have to find him and speak to him. I've got a few friends to talk to." She kissed his ear and vanished into the mob of people on the dance floor. Disgusted, Hiei wiped his ear and glanced around, then made his way to the bar. Karasu would find him. In the meantime, he ordered a drink and sat there staring at it until somebody slid onto the bar stood beside him.
"Hello, Hiei," Karasu purred. Hiei picked up his drink and downed the entire thing. The crow raised an eyebrow.
"So who is it, Karasu?" Hiei asked.
"They aren't here yet," the crow said. "You're all on your own?"
"No. My partner went off to dance skanky with some other whores."
"Really?" Karasu peered towards the dance floor. "Where?"
"You're disgusting."
"This is wonderful, Hiei. Are you sure you aren't entirely asexual? Don't tell me you have no sexual reactions from seeing attractive people in leather doing sexually implying dances."
"I'm not asexual, and I have no reaction because, one: I'm not watching them, and two: I hate them all."
Karasu shrugged and ordered a drink and a second one for Hiei.
"I don't see how you can hate people you don't even know." He paused and smirked. "Do you know what would really push it over the edge for me here?" the crow questioned. Hiei didn't look at him.
"I have some idea."
"Oh... Gods..." Karasu murmured, staring at the door. Hiei turned and looked. He bit his lip.
"Damn," he muttered. He'd failed to mention to Kurama that Karasu would be there, and he'd failed to warn Karasu against harassing the boy when he came. So now, when Kurama and the two girls walked in, Karasu looked like he was about to either pass out or attack Kurama and rape him. Hiei got off his bar stool and hurriedly crossed the room to Kurama, dodging people easily.
The redhead had his long hair pulled back, and was wearing standard uniform for this event: tight leather, boots, some chains around his neck, and he even had a bit of eyeliner on (not as much as Hiei, however).
Shadow's eyes lit up when she saw Hiei. However, he went straight to Kurama and said something in his ear. The fox's eyes widened a bit.
"Here?" he asked. Hiei nodded.
"He's my contact."
"Contact!"
"Yes. Kyoukan told me he knows who will be trading whatever's to be traded here tonight. He says they aren't here yet."
Kurama looked a bit uncomfortable. "My life just got a little bit worse..."
"Chin up!" Eclipse said cheerfully, pushing Kurama's chin up and pulling his lips into a smile.
"Get off," he muttered, grabbing her hand.
"What's got you so pissy all of a sudden?" she pouted. Shadow, meanwhile, was staring at Hiei.
"You know," she said, grinning, "you look good in skanky leather, Hiei. You should wear it more often."
"I doubt I ever will again."
"You should!"
"Why?"
"I said so!"
"Not good enough."
"Oh?" She grabbed him and kissed him. Kurama and Eclipse groaned.
"Man, now that they're a couple and we all know it, they're always all over each other," Eclipse muttered.
"I wish I were Hiei right about now," Kurama said. Eclipse hit him.
"Pervert!"
"What? Don't you wish you were Shadow?"
"No!"
"Uh-huh..."
Eclipse glared.
The fire demons broke apart and Shadow grinned. "That a good enough reason?"
"Gods, yes."
"Ewww, man! Come on you two, get a room or something," Eclipse whined.
"They don't need a room," Karasu said, approaching Hiei. "Just pick a dark corner."
"Shut up, Karasu," the fire demon snarled.
"Good evening, Kurama," the crow said, smirking and bowing slightly.
"Hello," the fox said sourly.
"Hiei, I just thought you'd like to know that one of the groups you've got to keep an eye on just came through the door."
Hiei glanced at the door and memorized the faces of the three who'd just come in. They blended in just fine. Tall, long black hair, looking rather gothic. Tight leather, dark eyes, one even wore a large silver cross on a chain around his neck.
"They're the buyers," Karasu said, his eyes not on the men, but on Kurama. "You'll know when the other enters. He's a demon."
"A demon?" Hiei said, a bit surprised.
"Yes," Karasu confirmed distractedly, his gaze directed... down. Kurama narrowed his eyes.
"Hey! My face is up here, asshole!" he snapped, pointing at his face to emphasize.
"Yes, and it's beautiful, just like the rest of you."
Shadow grabbed Hiei's hand and led him to the bar, the place most devoid of activity. Granted, there were drunks shouting and such, but the dancing people gave it an eight foot berth. She sat on the stool next to him and turned to lean her back on the bar, looking out at the dance floor rather than the dozens and dozens of bottles of alcohol on shelves behind the bar. Kurama was shortly sitting on her other side with Eclipse on his other side, leaving Karasu to sit by Hiei.
"There's only four doors to the outside, one of which is backstage," the crow said. "There are bathrooms and about four rooms through that door" He pointed. "for business dealings and sex."
"They have back rooms for sex!" Hiei asked.
"Yes, though most people don't bother using them."
"I hadn't noticed," he replied coldly.
"No need to be such a bitch, Hiei. Really."
"Hiei," Kurama said. The fire demon looked up, gratefully ignoring Karasu. "Where's that woman that was with you at the station?"
"Who cares." He gestured to the dance floor. "Probably getting stoned."
"Oh."
Karasu leaned back, trying to get another look at Kurama's ass. The fox noticed and glared venomously.
"Come on, Kurama... Play along! I'm just looking! It's not hurting you any!" he teased.
"Stop being a dick, Karasu!" Shadow snapped. "Surely you're capable of being more dignified in public!"
"But... everything here is making me horny..."
"That's it. Get lost, Karasu," Hiei snapped. "You've done your job, you're free to go dance and fuck some ningens or whatever the hell you want to do. Just go away."
"God! What is wrong with you, Hiei?"
"You! Now leave!"
Karasu sighed and slid off his bar stool, walking past Kurama on his way to 'away' and brushing his fingers over the boy's leg.
"Don't touch me! I'll break your hand!" Kurama snarled.
A few minutes passed, during which the group sat in annoyed silence. Then Hiei, irritated, ordered another drink. A short time later, Morishima came out of the crowd and sat on the stool next to Hiei.
"Hey, sexy thing," she purred. Like any good girlfriend, Shadow was instantly alert. Hiei glared.
"Karasu told me who to watch."
"You're no fun, Kagerou. Come dance with me."
"No."
"You're so serious about this job. I thought you hated Kyoukan."
"I do. I also hate you and everyone else here, minus three."
"What? Who?"
"Shadow, for one," Hiei snarled, pointing at the girl beside him. She gave Morishima an evil glare. Morishima frowned a bit.
"Why is she here?"
"She was invited."
"Really."
"Yes. Really. Don't give her any shit, she won't take it."
Morishima walked over and stood before Shadow. "You know, I've seen you around. Aren't you still in school?"
"Yes."
"Should you really be here on a school night, little girl?"
"I'm not ten, woman. If I want to be here and go to school tomorrow looking like a druggie whore, I will. Leave me alone."
Kurama glanced up as a foreign demon energy neared. Hiei's head snapped up as well and they both set eyes on the man as he came towards the bar. Morishima and Shadow continued arguing until the demon sat down next to Hiei. Then Shadow nearly choked on her words as she became aware of the presence (a little slow on the uptake, aren't we?). Morishima was the only one ignorant of it.
Short black hair, a scar on his cheek, dark skin, and sunglasses to hide what Hiei assumed were unnatural eyes. He ordered a glass of their 'strongest stuff,' as he put it, and downed it in one swallow. To Hiei's surprise, disgust, and horror, Morishima went and started flirting with him. And he responded to it.
Not good... not good... Demon... Demon... Not good...
Hiei growled under his breath. "What are you doing, woman!"
"Quiet, Kagerou. I want to have some fun." She went back to flirting. Hiei grabbed Kurama's arm and pulled him to the side.
"What the hell should I do? If I drag her away, somebody will get suspicious, she'll get irritable and probably try to arrest him here and now. She can't do that."
"I don't know," Kurama said.
However, their dilemma was solved, as the demon looked at his watch, apologized to Morishima, and vanished into the throng of people. Hiei sighed in relief and returned to the bar, also logging that demon's energy signature into his memory. He was now keeping an eye on five people. Wait, no, six, as Morishima vanished onto the dance floor again. Karasu was on the far side of the room, doing God-knows- and who-cares-what. The three humans were spread around, one being at the far end of the bar, the other two dancing. Morishima and the demon were also dancing.
The group sat at the bar until four thirty in the morning before the criminals finally made their move. Hiei, sitting with his chin propped up on the heel of his hand, noticed first.
"K'rama," he said. "They're moving. C'mon."
With Morishima no where accessible, Hiei could do nothing. She had been of no help, she had not spoken to Hiei since the demon had left her at the bar around 12:30, and now she was probably high, drunk, and laying naked in a corner under some guy. Hell, Karasu had been more help than she had, despite harassing Kurama all night.
But now, they were going through the door Karasu had pointed out earlier - the door through which were the four business/sex rooms. Hiei and Kurama followed stealthily, inconspicuously (except the bar tender was pretty suspicious. When four people sit at a bar from midnight until 4:30, then suddenly get up and walk away looking like they're about to kill something, you get suspicious). They went through the door fifteen seconds after it had shut behind the last man. They found one of the humans waiting for them. Hiei knocked him out in one hit, before he could say a word or make a noise. They continued.
Watching from around the corner, they saw them go into a room. They left one man outside. Hiei smirked. Smart. But not good enough. He quickly knocked this man out as well. Then he stood aside and allowed Kurama to pick the lock. Having no gun, Hiei grabbed his police badge and slipped into the room.
It was a surprising view. There were three women, bound and gagged, in the corner. The demon held a small container which a fine greenish powder filled halfway, the human held a gun, aimed at the demon. However, when Hiei entered the small room, the barrel was instantly on his temple. Oops.
"Who are you!"
Subtly pushing the door shut to keep Kurama outside, thus saving himself from further endangerment (if the door opens, the human pulls the trigger), Hiei replied, "Put down the gun. Now. I'm a law enforcement officer." Ick. Cringe. Oh well, he'd said it more than once.
The man's finger tensed. Hiei lunged out of the way just as the bullet flew from the gun. He hit the man on the back of the head and snatched his gun from the air, pointing it at the demon.
"Fox!" he called. Kurama entered. Vines safely and instantly ensnared the demon. He dropped the jar from surprise and perhaps in an attempt to kill his attackers. Hiei caught it. "This stuff is deadly, right?"
"On it's own, you'd be dead in seconds if that much got in your air," Kurama elaborated. "Did your buyers know the risks of this, demon?"
"Let me go!"
"What are these women for?"
"They're my payment! It was a fair trade!"
Kurama let out a low growl and dug his communicator out of his pocket. He opened it and called Koenma.
"I've got the demon. And the herb."
The toddler looked relieved. "Good. I'll send someone instantly."
And he did. The demon was taken away, as was the herb. Hiei called Kyoukan on a pay phone.
"Moshi moshi," the man answered irritably.
"Kyoukan, I've got these losers I was supposed to get. What now?"
"Jaganshi? Bring them in, you dolt!"
"Yeah. In what car? Morishima's off fucking some guy. I can't drive."
An angry snarl. "I'll send somebody. Take them to the back alley." Click.
Kurama jumped as he felt somebody grab his ass. Protective instincts kicked in and he spun, punching Karasu (who else? He'd been trying all night) straight in the face. The pale demon instantly got a bloody nose. Despite this, he smirked.
"Finally got you. Been trying all night."
"Bastard."
"Good work here though," he said. "You're just too much, Kurama."
"Get lost. And never, ever touch me again," the fox snarled.
"Go jack off in a bathroom," Hiei snapped. Karasu sighed.
"I guess I'll have to..."
A bit (just a bit!) of disgust showed on both tantei's faces as the demon sulked away. Once he was gone, Hiei shook his head to get his thoughts processing again.
"Come on, Kurama. Is there a back door?"
"I'll check."
The fox left. Hiei went to the three women in the corner and pulled the gags out of their mouths. He was instantly rained on with thanks and crying and pleading.
"Calm down and shut up," he said. "I'm in no mood for crap like that."
They instantly silenced. Hiei knelt behind them and untied their wrists, letting them get their own ankles since he'd already had enough of them. Kurama came back a few minutes later and found Hiei kneeling next to one of the men he'd knocked out.
"Did you find a back exit?"
"Yeah."
And thusly, the criminals were shipped to prison. Kyoukan was a little more than angry when he found out Hiei hadn't caught the seller or gotten the drugs, but the knowledge that he was right about the drugs and the fact that the 'drug dealer' had apparently beaten Hiei up (he'd made Kurama give him a black eye so he'd have a feasible excuse when Kyoukan asked) relaxed him for the time being. Yes, knowing Hiei got beat up made Kyoukan happy. He wasn't a very good police captain since he rejoiced in one of his officers getting hurt.
And so came the next day of school. First period, in English, Black-sensei was curious as to why three of his top students looked like they hadn't slept at all. Shadow so ingeniously answered, "That's probably because we didn't."
"Well why not?"
"Well, you see..."
"A friend of ours was in the hospital," Kurama said, cutting her off. Shadow caught on instantly and nodded violently.
"Yeah, that's exactly it," she said, continuing to nod. "In the hospital. Very critical condition."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"
"He's got, um..."
"Laryngitis," Eclipse said. Kurama kicked her.
"That put him in critical condition in a hospital?" Black asked.
"Eclipse isn't good with diseases," the fox lied.
"Except STDs," Shadow added, nodding again. Black raised an eyebrow and Eclipse threw something sharp at Shadow. "Ow! Hey!"
"I don't know anything about STDs!" Eclipse snapped.
"That's not good, you might get one. Knowledge is the best defense."
"True enough," Black said. Eclipse fumed. Shadow grinned evilly.
"Anyway, we were staying with our friend in the hospital last night, so we didn't get a whole lot of sleep," Kurama explained to calm the two girls.
"I see."
Black returned to his desk. The second he was at his desk, a mob of girls swarmed to Kurama.
"Oh, Shuuichi-san, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend!"
"Tell him to get well soon!"
"Shuuichi-san!"
"Shuuichi-san!"
Shadow and Eclipse stared in horror at the writhing mass of girls that hid the poor redhead completely from view. Then Black turned around, and he, too, stared in utter horror and astonishment. He had had Shuuichi in class since August and had yet to seem him get totally mobbed by fangirls. Probably because, with Shadow and Hiei around, there hadn't been a whole lot of mobbing. Shadow was like the total anti- of fan girls. Fan girl repellent. SHADOW IN A CAN! KEEPS FANGIRLS AWAY LIKE THE OPPOSITE OF A MOTH TO A FLAME!
"Ladies! Ladies, please!" he finally managed. But, of course, these girls would only listen to Shuuichi or violent force. With a sinister grin, Shadow cracked her knuckles.
"HEY, YA PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR HUMANS! STOP FAWNING OVER THE SEXY REDHEAD AND SIT IN YOUR SEATS BEFORE MY FIST MEETS YOUR NOSES!"
Silence in the room. Kurama popped out of a small space between two girls, looking a bit less composed than normal. Eclipse and Shadow instantly put themselves between him and the rest of the class's population of females, Shadow cracking her knuckles and grinning evilly. Kurama finally grabbed her hands when she didn't stop.
"Stop it. That's unhealthy," he reprimanded.
At the sight of Shuuichi Minamino's arms around Shadow Jaganshi (the 'slut' who was 'fucking the gym teacher' and several other people, according to rumor), his hands holding hers, no matter how unromantic and obviously casual it was, every girl in the room instantly flooded with jealousy. They glared and were all instantly in their seats. Kurama and Shadow blinked.
"What'd we do?" he asked. Shadow blinked again, then her eyes went first from one side, Kurama's arm, to the other side, Kurama's arm. She blinked again and looked at her hands. Then she looked straight forward, where Black-sensei was still watching, looking surprised, and waiting for them to sit down. Kurama tensed a bit more and Shadow could almost see his eyes widen slightly as he realized 'what they did.' Instantly, he let go of her and all three were in their seats, halos and angel wings and innocent smiles all around. They continued with class.
In social studies, Okibi-sensei was in an exceptionally good mood, and the class instantly deduced that they were getting a big, complicated, difficult project. You see, Okibi liked to confuse people, and since he'd already had two classes before previous to theirs, it could be assumed that he'd confused plenty of people already today and thus was in a splendid mood due to it. As he put his papers in order for class, he hummed merrily.
"Stop singing!" Shadow ordered. Okibi looked at her, smiling.
"Shadow-san, I'm in such a good mood right now, I'm not even going to yell at you for disrespect."
Shadow chuckled sarcastically. "So what's our project, then?"
"I'll tell you once you stop speaking out of turn. Why are you such a troublemaker?"
"I'm not."
"Uh-huh. I've already moved you to the front of the room and you still insist on interrupting me and goofing off."
"Why did you move me up here, anyway? What was the final deciding factor in that? I can't seem to remember."
"You were annoying the rest of the class by sitting behind Shuuichi playing with his hair, and you kept throwing things at the other girls."
"Oh yeah! The hair thing! They were jealous, you could tell."
And at this point, the entire female population of the class (minus Eclipse) was now glaring daggers at Shadow.
"Whatever," Okibi said, brushing her off. He walked to the center of the front of the room. "Okay, class! With the upcoming election, I've decided that I want to get my class more interested in politics! So, you are all going to pair up or work alone, on a poster or video presentation."
Most of the class groaned at this, but Shadow let out a whoop. When Okibi gave her the most foul glare he could muster in his current mood, she coughed a bit and lowered her head to scratch the back of her neck. He continued.
"It must deal with one of these issues in our community: economy, crime, healthcare..."
Shadow zoned out through his list. She'd already heard enough to pick her topic. An evil grin curved her lips. Her shoulders shook a bit with silent laughter, until it built up and she threw her head back, laughing out loud while clouds built up and a thunderstorm raged outside (despite it being the end of December). Okibi cleared his throat. Once, then twice.
"Shadow!" Kurama hissed. Her head snapped up and she looked around innocently, like she hadn't just been laughing like a madman. Or woman. Eclipse burst out laughing at the sudden change in disposition, and Okibi shot a glare at her as well. She stopped instantly and bit her lip to keep from continuing.
The next period, Shadow was still plotting devious things (picture Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, and that's about what she looked like, only... She's Shadow). However, looking up on the board, a brilliantly evil smily came to her face and she darted to her seat and pulled out a piece of paper, writing instantly.
"Write a paragraph telling the best and worst advice you ever got, why it is the best/worst, and who gave you that advice. In a second paragraph tell the best and worst advice you've ever given and who you gave it to.
The best and worst advice I ever got can be summed up in two words, originally spoken to me by the one you know as Shuuichi Minamino: Be yourself (However, after realizing what he said, he quickly went on to inform me there are limits on that, like that I should pay attention in school, be quiet and respectful in class, blah, blah, blah. I didn't hear it all because I was being myself and not listening to his intellectual mumbo-jumbo). It's the best advice I ever got because it's just about the only advice I've ever got that wasn't advising me to shut up before I mysteriously found myself falling out the fourth floor window... And the reason for it being the worst has nothing to do with me, really, and everything to do with you, the teacher, and my classmates, who, due to Shuuichi's unwitting approval of my behavior, all have to put up with my excruciatingly annoying self. Aren't you so joyous?
Note To Teacher: I bet you feel like punishing Shuuichi now, since he's the one who accidentally told me it's okay for me to be like I am in your class.
Ah, the second paragraph. The best advice I've ever given was probably to a friend of mine named... You know, I don't know that I've ever given anyone good advice... However, I did give somebody BAD advice, and that would have been to my friend Yusuke, who I informed of the 'shoot first, ask questions later' method, and later that day he sent his friend's cat flying across the street because it startled him. Then there was that time I advised Eclipse to watch out for that big ol' hole in the ground while she looked up at me from inside the big... old... hole in the ground. Oh, and once, I gave advice on a relationship and got myself beat into unconsciousness because it didn't quite work. As a matter of fact, I think the only good advice I may have ever given a person in this particular lifetime was 'watch where you're going' and they promptly ignored that advice and slammed into a fence post... Stupid fool... Not naming names, of course, but apparently that advice, though given with good intentions, turned out to be bad, because they felt the need to advise me to shut up before they beat the hell out of me with a small child's rubber ball, and because of their advice, ended up getting hurt... Tsk. Not like I care, cuz if the stupid fool would have listened to the one time I had something important to say, this person wouldn't have run into a fence post and been caused extreme pain from said injury."
This is what Shadow wrote for her essay. Needless to say, Sato-sensei was once again displeased. At least this one didn't have anything in it about ramming pencils up fangirls' noses or whatever she'd had in that one she'd gotten detention for. Eclipse laughed hysterically at the essay until she was blue in the face and got sent to the office. Her laughter could be heard all the way down the hall. Kurama sighed.
"What's wrong with her today? It's like she's more hyper from getting no sleep," Shadow mused. The fox nodded.
"Hyperactivity can be a symptom of sleep deprivation. It makes me wonder if perhaps you're so hyper because you haven't slept in several years... But that can't be true because I've seen you sleep and wake up just as hyper as any other time."
"Shuuichi-kun, please, stop talking during class," Sato said sweetly. Then she glared at Shadow. "Jaganshi, detention."
"What! What for!"
"For distracting dear Shuuichi from his learning, of course," she said sweetly. Shadow narrowed her eyes.
"You biased witch," she muttered coldly.
"Sato-sensei, she wasn't distracting me," Kurama said, before Sato could give Shadow further detention.
Sato looked a little surprised. She quickly recovered. "But Shuuichi dear"
"Nevermind! I'm causing trouble, I'll just go to the office... I'm welcome there," Shadow said, getting up and putting her hands up in surrender. She grabbed her books. "Don't worry, I don't mind. I might as well just go there and skip this class all the time anyway. I typically only stay long enough to do an objectionable essay response before you kick me out." As she walked by Sato, she got up close to her face, eyes narrowed accusingly. "You are aware I've only been in this class about a month total all year and I still have an A. Does that tell you anything, woman?" She backed away, grinning. "Ja mata ne!" And before Sato could stop her, she was out the door. The teacher was in a foul mood for the rest of class.
Shadow ran all the way down to the office, and reached it the same time as Eclipse, who'd left considerably earlier but had dawdled on her way down. The girl was still chuckling as she traced patterns on the walls and kind of danced down the hall with the air of somebody drunk, but when Shadow came flying up behind her unexpectedly and grabbed her shoulders, she let out a shriek and threw herself to the ground, curling up in a ball. The office door, about five feet away, flew open and Yamashita peered out. Seeing the situation, he instantly told Shadow she was cleaning bathrooms tonight, and sent Eclipse back to class. The confused girl stared until Shadow punted her down the hallway. Then she went into the office on her own.
"I have to sit in here again," she said. "I was talking in class. Sato hates me."
"I hate you too," Yamashita said flatly. He went back in his office. Shadow sat down, grinning, and started up a conversation with the secretary. After about fifteen minutes, she randomly asked to go to the gym.
"I forgot my sweatshirt there yesterday," she explained. The secretary, a young woman with love interests of her own, smiled.
"Sure, you can go see Jaganshi-sensei," she replied, smiling. Shadow grinned.
"Arigatou! Ja mata!" She darted out of the office and tore down the hall to the gym. Hiei was not in the least surprised to see her. He was doing agility drills, and was already fed up with the weak ningens. He'd taken to flinging foam balls at them if they were too slow. Shadow hung around behind him, taking great joy in hollering at Hiroshi Nakada every time he was hit with one of Hiei's brightly colored motivational foam balls. For all his brawn, he was slow and stupid, like most high school gang-leading school-failing dolts.
When Nakada finished his drills, he went straight over to Shadow and challenged her to a fight.
"Here?" she laughed.
"Yes, here, and right now."
"You mean, with Jaganshi-sensei watching? And all your classmates?"
"Who cares. Hiei doesn't care because you're his student and he wants to see how you fight, doesn't he?"
"He wants to see how I fight when I'm actually in danger. Even Shuuichi Minamino is more dangerous than you."
"Shuuichi Minamino is a girly little momma's boy!"
The entire gym silenced. And then Hiroshi Nakada was bombarded with screams and shouts from every girl in the room. Then they all piled on him and started hitting him. Hiei and Shadow stared, looking a bit surprised. It took ten minutes with both of them trying at it before all the girls finally backed off. And when Shadow saw Nakada's state afterwards, she burst out laughing.
Hair pulled out by the handfuls, his face looked like somebody had let a wild cat loose on it, his shirt was ripped in several places, he had a bloody nose, and a black eye was already adding purplish color to his red face. Hiei snorted back laughter and most of the rest of the class burst into hysterics. Nakada glared, which made it all the more funny since his black eye was swelling shut, and Shadow collapsed on the ground and laughed until she couldn't breathe and was in danger of needing CPR. The boy got up, angry, and left the school through the nearest door, limping slightly.
Shadow was laughing and turning blue in the face. One of the boys looked at her and pointed. Without much enthusiasm, he said, "Hey, you might wanna do something about that..."
Hiei looked down at her, and his smirk vanished. Or rather, it turned into a rather unconcerned "These things happen" look, and he kicked her. She let out a strangled, "Agh!" and rolled over, continuing to chuckle. The fire demon sighed.
"Shadow, stop laughing. It may be funny, but I think breathing is a pretty essential function. So, if you have to stop laughing to breathe, by all means, do it."
"But I can't!" she panted. "That was the funniest thing in the world!"
"Not by far," Hiei sighed, grabbing her and dragging her off to a corner. He pinned her against the wall with one arm across her collar bones. "Calm down, Shadow."
"I'm trying!"
"You're not trying hard enough. Remind me never to let you stay up all night again," he murmured. "You're like a big ball of energy, bouncing off the walls and going into uncontrollable fits of..."
She started laughing again. He put his hand over her mouth.
"Do you have detention again?"
She nodded.
"Cleaning bathrooms?"
Another nod.
"What did you do this time?"
"I volunteered to go to the office since Sato was yelling at me for Kurama talking to me. Well, I didn't really volunteer, I kinda just told her I'd go to the office to solve it and I ran all the way and caught up to Eclipse and grabbed her and she screamed and Yamashita thought I was beating her up so he gave me detention." She panted, having said all that in only one breath. Hiei nodded.
"So it's just Yamashita hating you again."
"Yeah, more or less."
"Are you calmed down yet?"
She stared him straight in the eye, totally calm, then snorted and burst into laughter.
"I give up," he said, returning to his class just to dismiss them to the locker room. Shadow silently hopped across the gym and he turned just as she reached him. She shrieked in surprise and burst out laughing again. Hiei sighed.
"Shadow. Please. Calm down. I have a headache."
Shadow silenced instantly. "Make it go away?"
"What?"
"Free period next period!" she cheered.
"Ohhh."
The girl smiled as Hiei realized what she meant. When the bell rang and everybody was out of the gym and locker rooms, they relocated to his office. He shut the door behind her and she instantly pressed her lips to his.
"I'm tired of school," she said, sighing.
"Do you think I'm not! I have to go to another job after this, and both my bosses are assholes."
"But you're getting paid..."
Hiei shrugged and sat at his desk. "I'm a fighter. I'm not a teacher, and I'm not a law enforcement officer. I'm tired of it."
"Well, only five more months," Shadow said, smiling.
"That doesn't help."
There was a short pause. "Aishite'ru, Hiei."
"That doesn't help either, koishii," he said. A grin appeared on Shadow's face.
"You called me koishii."
"I did?"
She nodded.
"Well..." He shrugged. The girl smiled.
"Let's see what we can do about your headache."
Meanwhile, in the lunch room, Eclipse was sitting at a small table with Kurama, unenthusiastically poking at her creepy cafeteria food.
"I wonder where Shadow is," she asked sarcastically.
"And Hiei, too," Kurama added.
"Probably screwing in his office," the girl said coldly, stabbing her rice. It cringed. She screamed and threw it in the garbage. Kurama didn't even bother asking.
"Let's go check on them."
"No! God, if they really are screwing, I don't wanna see it!"
"Fine." Kurama got up and left. Eclipse's jaw dropped.
"What, and you do?" she cried, running after him.
"They aren't."
"How do you know!"
"I just do."
Eclipse mocked him behind his back all the way to the gymnasium and into the boy's locker room until she saw that they were indeed still quite clothed. Though they were awful close...
"What's going on in here?" she asked harshly, flinging open the door. Hiei didn't even look up, and Shadow just grinned and continued her massage. Eclipse frowned.
"At least it's not sex."
"How come I never get massages?" Kurama asked, mocking hurt. Shadow grinned.
"Because of Youko. And besides, it's reserved for Hiei."
Eclipse cringed. "You're icky. You're like, all... changed now..."
"Huh?" Shadow said stupidly. Hiei grinned a bit in amusement.
"I like her changed," he said. "But she's actually still very much the same."
"Right... She's all touchy feely now..."
"Only with Hiei," Shadow corrected. "Just like you're only touchy with Kurama, and only when nobody else is around."
"I'm not touchy with anybody."
"Then you'd like to be," Hiei amended, leaning back against Shadow.
"Psh. With the fox? Yeah right."
"You've got problems then. What girl wouldn't?" Shadow asked. Hiei looked at her accusingly. "Well he is attractive, you've got to admit."
"I don't have to admit a thing," Hiei said. "Are you attracted to that fox?" He was obviously teasing, and Shadow knew it.
"Well..." she said, shrugging. "If I am, I can't help it. I'm a girl and he's hot... Of course, you're better, koishii."
"Really. You don't sound too honest about that," he muttered.
Eclipse was staring. Then she snapped her fingers. "Are you two breaking up over Kurama? Because that would be wonderful."
"Why, cuz then you could have Hiei?" Shadow asked. "Well too bad! He's better than Kurama! You keep Kurama and I'll keep Hiei and we'll be happy."
"But I don't like Kurama!"
"Then you're a lesbian! Oh my God!" Shadow flattened herself against Hiei's back, putting her mouth right next to his ear, and whispered, "My best friend is a lesbian."
"I AM NOT!"
"Uh-huh. I could always just take both of the hotties... We could have threesomes!"
"I'm outta here," Kurama said instantly, hurrying out the door.
"I'm with you," Eclipse agreed, tearing after him. Shadow chuckled.
"You aren't attracted to Kurama, are you?" Hiei asked after a second, still joking.
"He's no more than a friend," she said, smiling.
"That's good." Short pause. "Prove it?"
They shared another passionate kiss. What's that, the fourth or tenth one in this chapter? Jeez. Getting sick of this yet? Or would you rather I gave details?
Shadow had more or less stopped walking to lunch and math with Kurama and Eclipse altogether, since she typically spent her literature and lunch periods in the gym with Hiei. So, on her way to math, all alone and feeling quite jovial after her visit with Hiei, she was a very easy target for fan girl assaults. These hadn't been common at all yet this year. However, today was her lucky day. Fifteen or twenty girls converged on her as she turned a corner.
"Hello, biatches!" she said cheerfully. No matter how many times she was confronted, there always seemed to be one girl consistantly there, apparently the ringleader of Mieou High's "official" Shuuichi Minamino Fan Club. Shadow didn't know her name, nor did she care, she just knew she was a slut and had probably screwed about fifty or more guys since she started high school. Of course, we now know this girl's name is Arisa.
"Been screwing around with Jaganshi lately?"
The missing title didn't go unnoticed by Shadow, but she said nothing about it. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently.
"We know you two little snotbags are fucking each other. You try to hide it, but it's obvious. He's free at lunch but neither of you are ever in the cafeteria."
"Oh, right, and you think we're off screwing each other someplace? Honestly, even if we were lovers, we'd find more opportune times and places to have sex than lunch period in a high school. There's cameras all over the place in this school. Yamashita's probably watching us right this second." She paused, eyes darting around suspiciously for a second before returning to the fangirls. "And you could beat the shit out of me and he'd just stay down there watching, probably laughing, because he hates me. With good reason, of course. Probably the same reason you all hate me."
Arisa looked confused, so Shadow elaborated. "Jealousy."
"Jealous! We're not jealous of you!" she snobbed (yes, now snob is a verb). "We just know you're a slut, and you'll pay for what you've done to Shuuichi."
"And what, exactly, have I done to Shuuichi?"
"Infected him with your disease."
"Um... I'm actually really healthy..."
Glares.
"Oh! You mean I've inflicted my insanity upon his normally respectful, brilliant, beautiful, composed disposition? You mean ever since I came around he's been acting a little different? I have that effect on people, it seems."
"We're going to find out your secrets, Jaganshi. And when we do, Shuuichi will never want anything to do with you, ever again."
"What is with people and trying to 'discover my secrets'! I don't have any secrets! What, just because I dress differently, act differently, look differently, and lead a different lifestyle, I'm automatically some kind of neon green frog-monkey with bat wings for ears! What the hell!"
"You're a whore, that's what you are," the ringleader said. "If you lay a hand on Shuuichi, you'll regret it."
"No, if you lay a hand on Shuuichi, you'll regret it. I know you're smart enough to realize that as long as I'm around, you don't have a chance with the guy. Yet, you still insist on attempting the inevitable. However, when he refuses all of you, all the time, every time you try, you look for another way around. You think that if you get rid of me, you'll have a clear path to Shuuichi Minamino. Well there's another obstruction you've forgotten, and you can't get rid of it."
"What!"
"And if you should ever happen to find Shuuichi wandering from that obstruction, giving you a clear path, keep in mind he has not forgotten his obligations. He's not going to go out with you, he's not going to tutor you at home or give you any chance to get your hands on him. He doesn't want you, he doesn't feel any attraction to the majority of the school's population, and he's not going to have sex with you, with or without my 'secrets' 'discovered.' You can just keep on trying your little rumors and confrontations, it won't make Shuuichi like you any more."
"Well you can just say that stuff all you want," Arisa snotted (yes, snot is a verb now too), "but I always get my way, and if I want Shuuichi, I'll get him no matter what. I'll get rid of you."
Shadow sighed. "I can't believe you're so stupid. I'll take your confrontations. Fine. But just think about this: You're the ones who started the rumor about Jaganshi-sensei and I being lovers. Now, I'm the loyal type, and he's the loyal type, and Shuuichi is the loyal type. If I were screwing around with a teacher, a good friend of Shuuichi's, do you really think I would have any obligation to Shuuichi? Do you really think I would be the one keeping you from him? If Hiei and I were lovers, which we aren't, then don't you think Shuuichi would be a little more detached from me? I wouldn't be dictating his love life. I'd have my own lover, and he could go off and screw slutty fangirls for all I cared. Yet, you're contradicting yourselves. Either I'm Hiei's bed partner or I'm Shuuichi's, but I'm not both, so make up your minds. Am I keeping you from Shuuichi by being with him, or am I with Hiei and Shuuichi is free of my clutchy little fingers? Think about that. I'm going to class."
The bell rang. All the girls scattered. Shadow still had to go to her locker. Luckily her math teacher liked her or she'd have gotten double detention (cleaning bathrooms and doing Calculus). She strolled into math class, books under her arm, and bowed an apology to Baisotei.
"Osokunatte sumimasen," she said.
"You're nearly five minutes late, Shadow-san," Baisotei said. Shadow nodded.
"I'm sorry, Baisotei-sensei. I had a little confrontation in the hallway. The less respectable part of the Shuuichi Minamino fan club confronted me and accused me of infecting dear Shuuichi with my disease. I had to try to explain to them that I don't have any diseases and that I'm not a neon green frog-monkey just because I don't wear the uniform and am constantly cheerful."
The Calculus teacher merely raised an eyebrow and pointed to her seat. She scurried back and sat next to Kurama. He looked at her questioningly.
"I'll explain later," she said. He nodded.
Let's talk for a minute about the Shuuichi Minamino fan club. As you well know, it consisted of every girl in Mieou High, plus a lot of girls from other schools and from all around town, who saw his beautiful, graceful body making its way down the street or through the hallways. However, there were different factions of the fan club, I guess you could say. There were the intelligent ones, who admired his mind and respected his body. There were the normal ones, who worshipped him. And then, of course, there's the ones who just lust and plot and scheme to get his sexy body naked in their bed. This faction was led by Arisa, the slut who was bribing Ryu Obake with sex and blackmailing him with embarrassing photos to get him to spy on Hiei and his friends against his best judgement. This is the faction that had been harassing Shadow ever since they'd seen her close to Shuuichi. He didn't have many friends that they knew of, and when it seemed his first real friend in the school was a pretty girl, they'd been furious. Of course, this was two years ago when Shadow and Hiei had supposedly been his adopted brother and sister. The sluts knew better, though. Adoption did not mean they were blood related, and that meant they could have a relationship without ever worrying about kids with deformities in the future. So it was at that moment that the Slimeball Faction of the Shuuichi Minamino Fan Club had also become the first Shadow Jaganshi Hate Club.
The next period, in Health class, Shadow told Kurama what had happened and what she'd said. However, this didn't take long enough to completely spare them from Etsuko-sensei's lecture on emotional status in a relationship.
She was taking her lectures in steps, she said. Each week they would learn about something new, in order of how things should proceed in a relationship, and once it was established, how to maintain it and stay healthy while still enjoying it. This, of course, bored most students. They just wanted to watch porn. Shadow was not one of them, but she was bored with the lectures, and the things Youko drew out of these lectures and whispered to her the next time he saw her.
Today should be especially fun.
"Emotional status in a relationship is very important," the teacher was saying. "If you are unhappy with the relationship you are in, you don't want to stay in it just to please your partner. That could lead to a lot of bad things, like depression, and you'll slip into a world of insecurity and you'll feel a constant need for sex just to feel good about yourself."
The lady spoke as if talking to small children about hot stoves. Shadow sighed.
"Now, during sex, you may feel best in one position. Though it is good to try out new things, you don't want to do anything that you are uncomfortable with."
And though she was trying to take them in steps, she always ended up talking about sex. Shadow was so sick of hearing about sex she was sure she'd never be able to actually experience it. She wasn't sure she wanted to, she was so sick of hearing about it.
Her mind wandered to her social studies project and a maniacal smile appeared on her face. Kurama and Eclipse stared at her like she was nuts, for Etsuko had just said something that Shadow hadn't heard, and they thought that's what she was smiling about.
Then, a random thought occured to her that widened her psychotic grin and made her snicker. New Year's was coming up. Though it was a big holiday everywhere, no matter what religion, she'd actually never celebrated it yet at her house. Not with a party.
"A party..." she muttered. Kurama relaxed a bit as he realized she was laughing at her own twisted thoughts, not about rough sex. Eclipse, however, was more confused than ever and looked to Kurama's small smile, then at Shadow, and whimpered.
"I'm confused!" she whined. Shadow jumped up and flew out the door, shouting, "I'M GONNA HAVE A NEW YEAR'S PARTY!" It echoed in the hallway as she went, letting out a loud whoop and jumping for joy. Kurama hid his face in his hands and Eclipse continued staring in utter confusion. The entire class stared at the door and Etsuko hurried to call Shadow back, but she was no where in sight.
"Oh, my..."
Bet you can't guess what the next chapter is...