Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. But once I take over the world, I'll own EVERYTHING!
'BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEE- BAM! CRASH!' I was never really much of a 'noon' person. That was why a dismembered alarm clock laid on the other side of the room. I groaned, and heaved myself off the sheet less mattress to the remains. I picked up the last piece, carelessly glanced around the room, and sneered when my eyes fell to the stained corner ahead of me. I tossed the clock into a black garbage bag. The phrase "Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust," I heard from the Christian spiritual leaders, priests, so many times ran through my head.
I left for the bathroom and turned to lock the door, only to distinguish the broken knob. I turned on the shower, watching the orange liquid spurt from the showerhead for a few moments, till it morphed to normal clear water. I stripped my clothes and shoved them in a wad into the crevices of the door to, hopefully, keep it closed, and hopped in the shower. For twenty minutes I let the hot, sulfuric scented water hit my body, and for twenty minutes the steam rose from it, before I turned off the shower and came out with a towel wrapped across my chest, and another tucking in my almost black hair. I tossed the dirty, wrinkled clothes in a corner and went back into my new room, without a glance toward the foggy bathroom mirror. I struggled to open the dresser drawer, only to finally wretch it out of the bureau completely and in the vicinity of having it break down on my foot… if I hadn't already moved, that is.
Nevertheless, I mumbled sweet curses to the damn bureau and the damn apartment itself as I seized for a change of clothes. I cast the towel on the bedstead carelessly and slipped into my normal black undergarments before putting on plain, baggy black jeans, held up with a leather belt, and a black long-sleeved fitted tee.
I traveled back into the bathroom with my makeup bag and stood in front of the mirror. If any mortal were to then peer at the mirror, they would assume they were the only one in there. But I was there, setting that mirror on a throne of lies. The only visible thing was my pentagram necklace, the shoulders of my shirt, and the room behind me. I opened my makeup bag and pulled out the pale face powder. I dabbed the powder on my entire face, cheeks, nose, eyelids, lips, everything, as well as my throat. I studied the mirror once again. The powder shown the shape of my face and nothing else. I finished my makeup with some black eye shadow and mascara before putting everything away. I shook some of the water out of my hair, and then left it to air dry.
The kitchen, living and dining rooms were all joined together as one semi-large room. The room was empty, of course, except for the necessary kitchen appliances, a dining table, and tele'; all just shouted, "I was put here in the seventies and no ones cleaned me since!" A small perch stood in the living room as well. Lynn, my raven, sat on that perch, and cawed affectionately, as if acknowledging my existence.
I'm hungry, considering I skipped eating the night before, Well, I guess I'll have a snack when that Yusuke boy gets here… I strolled over to the perch, "Merry meet, Lynn. Haven't you explored this dump?"
The raven cawed in reply andI held outmy hand as a new perch, which she graciously accepted. Not even perched for a minute, she took flight to the dining half. She aimed for the table and skidded a foot after landing. She quickly recovered and began pecking a piece of paper I didn't notice before. I picked up the paper and saw it was a note, which I read to myself silently:
Life;
I heard you talking to that mortal boy last night, and I want to remind you of the rules. No eating in the house. If you make a mess, I don't want to have to explain to the carpet cleaners what's stained the floor. Also, you'll need to go out today and buy furniture. I left some money in that envelope, get things we both like. When you go out, remember to wear your shades and jacket. We don't want you to get burned. Eat healthy!
-Mum
I glance at the table and see Lynn sitting on a fat envelope. I snatch it and stuff the contents in my jeans pocket. Just then, there was a knock on the door.
I open the door and there's Yusuke… with Kuwabara… and two other mortals. Damn it!
"Hey!" Yusuke waved and brushed past you in the apartment. The other three follow.
"Hush," I pressed, much quieter than he was, and shut the door.
"Oh!" I noticed Yusuke mentally slapped himself, "Sorry," he finished in a much lower volume. He was garbed in a bright green jumpsuit. His hair was combed back and gelled, which reminded me of a hairstyle in North America during the 50's. Popular in the United States, that it was, but it also spread into Canada, where I was at the time.
"It's kind of dark in here, don't ya think?" the large oaf, Kuwabara spoke in his loud, annoying voice, making me clench my teeth. His hair was the same as the night before, but he got rid of the teddy bear getup, and replaced it with a light blue jumpsuit.
Despite Kuwabara's loud voice, I managed to keep mine down, "I haven't noticed," still with clenched teeth. My reply was kind of true. All of the lights were off and the blinds were shut, unable to stop just a sliver of sunlight. Considering I was what I was, my eyes were greatly adapted to the dark, so it made no difference to me. "Who are they?" I questioned, pointing to the two anonymous mortals, a hint of irritation in my voice.
Apparently, Kuwabara found a light switch, because I was introduced to a bright white flash.
"Ah!" I shielded my eyes and turned my face toward the floor, to let my eyes adjust to that first.
"What?" Kuwabara's tone was a 'no-big-deal' tone, "It was dark in here!"
My eyes began to adjust to the floor, so I lowered my hands, blinking several times, and looked at the boys. Three of them shared confused expressions; the other seemed not to care.
Yusuke seemed to recover first, "Um… This is Shuichi," he motioned to one of the boys. This Shuichi was tall. About 5'11", which was still a few inches shorter than the oaf, but tall to me nonetheless. Shuichi wore a maroon colored jumpsuit. He had soft red hair that reached just past his shoulders and the most dazzling emerald green eyes. Those eyes…
"Yusuke told me about you, Life," he took hold of my hand, "And a pleasure it is to meet you," he bowed slightly and let his lips gently brush the top of my hand. Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed slightly startled, and I would have been too, if I wasn't still entranced with those emerald orbs. Those eyes…
Only a moment later did I realize he still had my hand, and I wretched it away. Who in the sevens hells does he think he is?! But I caught those eyes again, and once again, hypnotized. Maybe it was because of the light, but I didn't think I ever saw any green like that before. They were so… enticing… distracting. It made me kind of upset.
"And… um…" Yusuke interrupted my state, "This is Hiei." My hypnotized state broke completely to look over the Hiei. He was obviously the shortest of the four; from what I could tell he was only an inch or two taller than me. It was difficult; see, because his jet-black hair was spiked in an odd way that defied the laws of gravity. He was donned in black. Just black. Black pants, black shirt, black cape, black boots. All that was white was a bandana tied around his forehead. A katana was strapped to his waist. And his eyes… they were just as entrancing as Shuichi's, only in a different way. They were red. Deep red. Blood red. Delicious red…
I was starving… but it would have beenfoolish to satisfy my hunger. It was an all or nothing choice. And I had room for two, maybe three… but certainly not four. It would have been suicide.
"Hn," was all Hiei 'said', and turned away.
That made me angry. Not that he turned away, but he said 'Hn'. HN! Hn was my phrase! Not his! That was exactly what I was going to do. He just got it out before me. I unknowingly was pumping myself up; anger ever more rising. Absently, a low growl passed my throat. Not a mortal growl, my kinds growl. Resembling a lion's growl. Just as our roars resemble a lions.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. No one but Hiei, it seemed, for he twisted his head slightly toward me with a cocked eyebrow. That transformed my anger into worry.
"We must go shopping," I spoke almost too quickly, "for furniture."
"Why?" Yusuke asked.
I waved my arms around, inviting them to observe the apartment, "No furniture."
"Eeww! What is that thing?!" Kuwabara whined and pointed. I followed his navigation to Lynn, seated on her perch.
Lynn glared at him with her black beady eyes and took flight… into Kuwabara's face.
"Ahhh! Help me! Help me! It's trying to eat me!" he screamed, frantically running in circles.
Yusuke burst into a fit of laughter. Hiei acted as if he wasn't paying attention at all, but I could have sworn I spotted a tiny smirk for just a second. Shuichi seemed to be pondering.
"A crow?" Shuichi concluded, "You own a crow?"
I made a soft click sound with my tongue, calling Lynn to my shoulder, "A raven." No one would have been able to fit anything else in, for a furious voice screamed over them all.
"Who the hell is making all that damn noise?!" Mum. She was leaning against her bedroom doorframe, wearing her nightgown. A lace babydoll, sheer embroidered floral lace and delicate scalloped edging. Very Victoria's Secret. Very revealing.
"Life?" She squinted her eyes a bit, "Didn't I tell you to shop for furniture?" her leaning against the doorframe made her nightgown all the more revealing.
"Who is she? She's hot!" I reminded myself to slap Kuwabara later.
Mum glared at him, "I'm her mother!"
All the boys' jaws dropped. Apparently, she was way too young to have a daughter my age.
"Now," Mum's teeth were clenched, "I want all five of you OUT! NOW!" Her bedroom door slammed shut, the floor vibrated and a chunk of drywall fell.
"Your mother seems to have an awful temper," Shuichi spoke softly.
"Hn." I venture to my room and grab my trench; smoothly sliding into it, "She works nights," I pull my shades from my pocket and put them on, "She doesn't like it when her sleep is interrupted." I opened the door and left the building, the boys following suit.
I paid for a black leather couch, Lay-Z-Boy recliner, and a few dark chairs at Daimaru, and I paid extra to have them deliver it to the apartment for me later. So, I was no longer the leader, but a follower near the back, just in front of Hiei, who was the tail of the group.
"What do you want to do?" Yusuke was in the front, propping his head up with his hands behind his head.
"Let's go eat!" Kuwabara just behind him, next to Shuichi.
"Life is new here," Shuichi reasons, "Shouldn't she get to choose?"
Yusuke looks back at me, "What do you wanna do, Life?"
"Hn."
"See? She doesn't care. Let's go eat!"
We all found an Udon stand, and despite Yusuke telling everyone it was his treat, I politely, yet silently, declined his offer. I just watched him hand the cashier 800 yen and passed out the udon and wooden chopsticks to the other boys.
" 'Y arn'f you eafin', W'ife?" Kuwabara somehow spoke through his noodles.
"She said she wasn't hungry," Yusuke told him before dropping some noodles in his own mouth.
I ignored them. I was too busy eying my surroundings, the once crowded street was gradually decreasing as the sun set. Decreased enough to finally see across the street, but still crowded enough to hardly be noticed.
"I'm tired!" Kuwabara began to whine several minutes after finishing his udon.
"There's a bus stop at the corner," Shuichi stated, "We can take that home."
I thought over his remark, "Do we all live in the same apartment building?" I ask befuddled.
"Why do you ask?" Yusuke questioned.
"It sounds as if we are all aiming for the same destination."
"They're all staying at my place tonight."
"Hn." We reached the bus stop a few minutes later and the boys took up the bench.
"We should have about ten minutes before the bus gets here," Shuichi checked his watch.
The boy continued conversing with one another, and I only half listened… not entirely there. And I left completely when something in the nearby alley caught my attention. Oblivious to the boys, I sneaked off into the alleyway; curiosity got the better of me. I walked by several trashcans and a few dumpsters before coming to a halt. "Show yourself. I know you're here."
From random hiding places, a gang of twelve emerged. They were mortal enough, except for the scent… Demons. Makai demons. And low class as well. The dozen of them had humanoid features, only blue tinted skin. Each were handling cheap mortal weapons; chains, baseball bats, knives, and one demon, I assumed was the leader, had a cheap 9mm.
"Come with us, you lil' pretty thing. We ain't gonna hurt you. We just wanna play a lil' game," the leader spoke in a would be sweet tone.
"Really," I remarked, "Well in that case, I should get to choose what game we're going to play…" I put my shades in my trench pocket; revealing my light green, almost silver eyes. A hungry smirk played upon my visage. "Tag. I'm it."
I inside to the outside crescent kicked the 9mm out of the leaders hands, and leaped. I landed on one of the demons shoulders and made a quick twist of my hips, and broke his neck. I did not leap from the enemy's shoulders as he fell, but more used him as an escalator for an easy ride down, and landed perfectly on my feet.
The remainder of the gang had terror plastered on their faces, with the exception of the leader. He seemed to be pretty confident that he could beat me. However, four of them seemed to think the exact opposite, and ran off the opposed direction. Give them a chance, I thought to myself, It's more fun… when they run.
Two demons came at me with chains, one at my left, and one at my right, and lassoed my wrists. I simply smirked, and crossed my arms over each other with great force and took a half-step back, sending the two demons to crack skulls against each other. With the chains still wrapped around my wrists, I take the ends and wring them around the fallen demons necks with simple twists of my wrists. I jerked hard on both chains, followed up by a small series of cracks. Their throats were crushed.
I freed myself of the chains and started at another demon sporting a bat. He swung overhand for my collarbone, which I stop with a rising X block, remove the bat from his grasp, and kicked him in the groin. He doubled over and I jabbed the back of his neck hard with the grip of the bat. His body hits the grounds with a hard thud and remained still.
Since that demon was out of the way, it gave my next opponent an opening. That opening was my stomach. That attack was the throw of a knife. Results: Dead on.
I froze. My eyes scanned the last of gang. Cackling of those hideous mortal demons rang through my ears. My head down tilt. There was that knife; the entire blade was no longer visible, only the short handle. I could feel the blade deep within me. The tip grinding against my spine… the little scamp.
I leered, and reached for the handle of the blade. And with a simplistic gesture of the wrist, the knife departed from my stomach. No wound. No blood. The laughter ceased immediately, and only a gasp from one was heard. I returned the knife, but he missed the catch and it penetrated his heart. Pity.
I darted toward him and caught the blade as he fell. I rotated my hips; my hand followed along, and caught another demon through the chin. A glimpse of red steel glistened in his mouth before he dropped to the ground as well.
I scanned for my remaining opponents: two. The leader took off behind the dumpsters, so I ignored him. If he was going to take off, he wasn't worth my time. The last demon was visibly horrified as I slowly advanced on him, backing him into the wall. My hand reached for his throat—BANG!
My eyes went wide. A sharp pain shot through my body. I looked in the direction of the source of the pain. In my chest, between my breasts, a hole. Turning back to my victim, a bloody hole in his chest perfectly parallel to mine. He crumbles to the ground, obviously dead. I stared at the hole in my chest again and watch it disappear before my eyes, nearly all the pain along with it.
I turned to see the leader crouched behind the trashcan with the 9mm in his hands. So THAT'S where the gun went! I ebbed from his sight and re-emerged behind him, holding him in a headlock. I roared into his ear, making him shake worse than a laundry machine on a rampage. But it was nothing… nothing compared to his reaction to the very thing I whispered in his ear.
"A word of advice," I tilted his head to the side, "Guns don't kill vampires." I bared my fangs for not even a split second before they plunged deep into his neck. He kicked with all his might, but proved pointless being on his knees, and made the blood rush ever faster. His throat sent vibrations, ready to scream, until I clamped my free hand over his mouth and buried my fangs deeper; tongue catching and lapping the blood that seeped, and lips preventing it from venturing anywhere but my hungry mouth. Warm blood. Red blood. Fresh blood. I craved more and more.
A couple minutes later, he was nearly drained, and I dropped the carcass on the alley floor. My fingers wiped all the excess blood from my face and I licked it off. "I won."
I carefully stepped over the bodies and headed back out of the alley. At the entrance of the alley four lumps on the ground caught my eye. The runaways. Two of them were sliced in half.
Next thing I knew, I was shoved against the wall at the corner of the alley entrance. A katana was pressed hard against my throat.
"Vermin!" was Hiei's disgusted voice, the first time I heard him speak.
"Hiei! What are you doing?! Let her go!" Yusuke shouted at him. The other three boys rose from their spot on the bench.
"Are you too wallowed up in your own ningen hormones to care of what she is?!" Hiei spat.
"What are you talking about, Hiei?" Shuichi's tone was calm, but his worried expression gave it away.
Hiei stared intently into my eyes, and I had no intention of breaking it, "I had my suspicions ever since I met you. And they were confirmed no more than five minutes ago. I saw what you did in the alley." He didn't dare take his eyes off me, "She is the lowest of creatures, Detective. Not even a demon. She is a monster. A Vampire."
All eyes were on me; shocked, scared, terrified.
"Lovely work, Hiei," you said, calmly grabbed his wrist and pulled the katana away from my throat, which he surprisingly allowed. "You figured it out: who, with what, and where at. Kind of like 'Clue'," a small chuckle escaped my lips, "But just remember. I'm not the only monster here."
My chuckle broke up as well as my body. My skin went distorted and broke apart into hundreds of tiny black bats. In a giant mass much resembling a black cloud, I flew homeward. The boys were left at that entrance staring after me…
Wow, about time, huh. It's twice as long as the first one. Review me please!