Alright, JESS is now the Commander of the Marines! Build up your Marine... err…Squad? You know what I mean. Make me proud! I'll make you a badge on Photoshop! Haha… maybe I should… You know, I think I will. You should have it by chapter 7. I'll make it pretty, yet intimidating.
Yeah, maybe all of YOU can have a badge or certificate if you tell me what you want!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, so quit rubbing it in!
And there I sat. Everything that happened was set on repeat in my mind, playing over and over again. What is wrong with me? One of the countless number of questions that plagued me. Why? Images… They just wouldn't stop repeating!
…He rolled on top of me, making the kiss deeper and rougher. I wrapped my arms around his neck, intensifying the lustful kiss even more. My tongue plunged into his mouth and they danced… or more like grinded…
Grrr… Get out of my head you cursed photographic memory!
…His eyes were glazed; instincts had taken over. He growled and ignored it, roughly kissing me again, sucking my tongue, drawing the blood out for a few seconds, then went back to kissing me. His hands sliding around my sides like crazy…
I wanted to scream. Scream that damn confusion right out of my system. Unfortunately, I knew it would do little to no help. I need… advice… I hated that word. It had always made me feel helpless. Next thing I would know, I would be asking people to tuck me in at dawn.
I left my room and traveled the great distance to right next door. My knuckles tapped the wooden entry several times. The doorknob twisted and creaked open.
"Life?" Mum's her voice similar to mine, only older. Her eyebrows knotted, "There is something that's troubling you…"
I brushed past her and shut the door. Her room was about the size of mine, with walls sponged in hue tones. The floor and doors were the same dark alder wood as my own, and her bed was the same design, with gray tones rather than blue. She did not have a balcony; instead she harbored a second window, complete with heavy drawn curtains. The lights in the room were not in use, however, I noticed she had several candles lit on the bureau, nightstand, windowsill, and floor.
I seated myself on one of the windowsills, next to a single candle. "Something happened."
"Well you don't have to say anymore, because so few 'something's happen," the pure lamia vampire remarked sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes at her, "This is serious."
"Then tell me what it is."
I focused my eyes on the candle in front of me; my fingers running through its flame over and over again, "Hiei—the short mortal with black hair— I caught him looking through the Book of Shadows…"
"Did he taint it?" one would have to know my mum as much as I had to differ her emotionless tone from concerned.
"I don't believe he did… the longest he could have had it would have been a half an hour, and he was merely skimming through the pages."
I could feel Mum's eyes bore into me, "But the Book of Shadows is not what you're worried about…"
"When I stopped him, I bit him."
She was silent for a few moments before, "We will be screwed over if he says something…"
"You know, I don't think he will."
The lamia stared disorientated at me.
"When I bit him, he… it was like he was begging for it to go on. He began to enjoy it. I had only heard of the rumor a half a century ago at the club in Denmark about a willing victim not finding it painful, but, I had no idea it would be like that. It was like I could see and hear and feel everything he was seeing and hearing and feeling…" my voice drifted, once again, recalling the incident.
"Something else happened," she obviously knew what I was talking about, and I eyed her suspiciously.
"I guess one thing led to another—no, not like that—and the next thing I knew, we were making out on the bed," I felt no shame in discussing this with my mother. After all, we had spent over a century and a half together and it was only natural to us.
"…Nothing else happened?" she wasn't upset. Hell, I was a hundred and sixty-two. I was a big girl who could take care of herself.
I shook my head, "After I came to realization about what I was doing, I kicked him out."
Mum watched me intently, until a small, yet rare, grin spread across her lips.
"What?" I questioned, then annoyed.
The grin remained on her visage, "I believe that Makai demon may have a love interest?"
I eyed her disapprovingly, "I highly doubt, as well as highly abhor. That mortal is nothing but a pervert."
"Pervert now?" she questioned with interest.
"I have only caught him staring at me nude twice, but Goddess could only know how many shots that peeping tom took advantage of."
"Nude?"
"He apparently 'accidentally' tore off my hospital gown, and he caught me in one other incident…" I turned to mumble incoherent words regarding the lines of Hiei being the pervert he is.
"Vita," a childhood nickname given to me by her and my father, "You may fancy to be light on the mortal. He is a male, after all. And males; mortal, human, one, or neither; cannot resist to glimpse at a females' body. Take your father for example…"
"Now is the point where we meet the fine line that as a mother, you shall never cross," I warned. Uck, I did not want to hear about my parents' old sex-capades, whether Mum was my friend, or not. "Besides, the boy was clearly acting on his primal instincts."
"Looking at you?"
"Making out with me."
"Either way," she concluded, "If you are asking what you should do about his reaction to you pushing him away, if I were him, I would want an explanation. So, whatever reason it may be, you should probably tell him, whether he was acting on instincts or not."
"Do I really have to?"
"It is your decision. I will not pressure you," she went to the door and opened it for me and I followed.
"So," I stopped at the doorway, "How was that talk with Koenma? You did find him?"
She suddenly coughed, "What?" she choked. "Oh, that," she composed herself, "We are still unable to feed from mortals."
"I see," I glanced toward the window to see a brighter glow from beneath the curtain, "It is day, I suppose. We should be off." I departed to my room and changed into my only pajamas; the black baby doll tee and red and black-checkered pajama pants that I last wore my first morning at the Green Peace.
I crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling until it seemed the glow beneath the curtain could not be any brighter. It was then I finally fell asleep.
ooo
A light tap was felt on my shoulder and I buried my face further into the pillow. "Life?" a soothing voice coaxed, "Life? Come on, it's time to get up."
I pulled the comforter over my head, "What time is it?" I groaned.
"It's 5:30."
"Are you fucking psycho?" I reached a hand out and pulled in whoever was poking me… or what. It was a broom handle. I squinted from the light. Kurama stood by the bed… or more like five feet from it, for he had the other end of the broom in his hands.
"It's far too early…" I plopped a pillow over my head.
Kurama sighed, "I wasn't looking forward to doing this, but… YUSUKE! KUWABARA!"
Two pairs of footsteps pounded into the room, causing the floor to shake. Next thing I knew, something clamped onto my ankles and heaved me off the bed and onto the floor with a loud and painful thump.
"DAMN you BOTH to HELL!" my hands seized at their ankles, but they hopped out of my reach.
"Get up, Life! We're gonna train!" Yusuke complained.
"I stared blankly at him, "…Train…"
"Yeah," the carrot top spoke, "We gotta be in top condition for our missions," he flexed his muscles.
"I see… Not going to happen," I crawled back onto the bed, only to be dragged back on the floor.
"Forget skipping," Urameshi said, "We wanna see you fight."
"Fine!" I groaned, "Just… get out so I can change!" I jabbed a finger toward the door.
I shooed the mortals out, and changed into my original baggy black jeans and my black long sleeved tee, and loosely slid on a belt. I slipped on my trench and pulled on a pair of 'The Original' black leather army boots from Vietnam.
You would have no idea how long it took me to find a body that had the same shoe size as mine… and even that nearly everyone carcass was a male, which made it even more difficult to figure the difference between women and men show sizes. But, thankfully, these were in pretty damn good condition, only with 'P. JORDAN' written under the tongues as a defect.
I finished up with applying the face powder, red lip-gloss, and black eyeliner and mascara. I pulled out my shades from my pocket and slid them over the bridge of my nose out of habit.
From the corner of the room, I pulled out the three cases from the apartment and set them on my bed. I unzipped the smallest case and pulled out a pair of sais. They were plain, nothing special; made purely of steel with black leather wrapped around the handle. I stuffed a sai in each of my boots. I knew they belonged in my belt, but being I hadn't taken Kempo classes in nearly eighty years, I have decided to keep my gi safely packed away for a special occasion.
I opened up the thick case to reveal my katana. This katana was only the slightest bit fancier. I had 'borrowed' it from my old sensei. 'Borrowed' as in he lent it to me, but something came up, leading my mother and I to leave without having a chance to return it. The saya was plain and black, and inside, the hasaki and kissaki were deadly sharp, the entire blade stainless steel. The kashiragane, tsukakashira, seppa, and fuchigane were all bronze with old oriental engravings of an ocean with the oriental fish, crabs, and sea rays that my sensei had found so precious. With the katana in its saya, I properly tucked it in my belt and tied the sageo to a belt loop.
I unzipped the long case and pulled out my favorite weapon, my rattan bo. It was plain, beaten down, and old but I didn't care. This was my first mortal weapon and I was quite fond of it. It was only made of wood, but it had always managed to hold strong. I didn't have a place to store away the bo; instead, I tucked it in its relaxed position beneath my arm.
As soon as I left the room I had realized that I had no idea where we would train, so I left for the living room. No one was in there… no one but Hiei.
He was seated on the windowsill, staring out at Goddess knows what. I could sense he was aware of my presence, and he was ignoring me as he did any other mortal here. I decided to ignore his company as well and seated myself on the couch and turned on the tele'.
Ever since mortals invented the television, I would have to say, I have grown a fondness to it. It was something that reminded me that even mortals come useful, and well as create interesting television programs. Of course, I was absolutely sure of it that the creatures of my society have had something to do with some of them. Take Buffy the Vampire Slayer for example. Either a werewolf or a vampire half-breed had something to do with that show, Hell, even both. Then again… a cleric could have had a significant role in it as well. Clerics are part of the Day World with the mortals, so it would make sense for the clerics to protect them with this program. Giving them hidden information… damn clerics. Damn Mystic Warriors as well!
I flipped through the channels until I settled on an English channel, Nickelodeon. Spongebob Squarepants was airing, The Bubblebowl. I had seen this episode, Hey, who said a vampire couldn't enjoy a cartoon about a sponge living in a pineapple under the sea? I had found much amusement in this show.
"Where's training?" I didn't misdirect my eyes from the tele'.
Hiei didn't respond. He didn't even hn. He just stared out the window. A caw met my ears and I turned to him. Lynn was perched on the sill aside Hiei, who was stoking her breast with his finger.
I sighed, "About las—"
"There you are!" the detective spoke as he, Kuwabara, and Kurama came in, "We thought you were still in your room."
Hiei rose from his spot on the windowsill and left the room without a word. Lynn took off from the sill and landed herself on my shoulder.
"Spongebob Squarepants? How come we can't understand what he's saying?" the oaf watched the screen with a confused face.
"That's because it's English, you nitwit," I remarked, irritated.
"You know English?" he asked.
"No, my entire ancestry consists of beings from European countries, such as England, Romania, and Ireland. And I, myself, was born in England, lived in Ireland, the United States, and Canada, and I have gone through all those years without speaking a single bit of English, except the occasional yes or no." I replied sarcastically.
"Really?" he made me want to shoot him.
"How is it that I could ever be cursed to be in the presence of such an idiot, that I wish to stake myself half the time because of him," I muttered loud enough for them all to hear, in English.
Urameshi and Kuwabara stood there, dumb-founded, whereas Kurama bit his thumb, attempting to suppress a chuckle. Obviously someone here besides me knows English…
"Shall we?" I rose to my feet, Lynn flapping her glossy black wings to attain her balance.
Kurama composed himself "Yes… let's go, then."
I fixed my shades, and followed the mortal boys to a room in a completely different part of the palace I wasn't aware of. It was a gym. A big gym. A pro- wrestlers' Dream Gym. Loads of equipment was properly set up around one large end; complete with punching bags and the weight lifting contraptions that I knew nothing of the names or their exact purposes. There was a section of matted flooring near the middle of the room, and at the complete opposite side of the gym was a very large training arena. Large columns and other obstacles were randomly placed throughout training arena, to create more of a challenge. One entire wall was aligned with mirrors.
Hiei was already situated near that space of the gym, his katana unsheathed and being swung with precise. He paid no attention to the four of us.
"Okay," Yusuke declared, "I put all of our names in this hat," he took a Budweiser cap from behind his back, "We can pull out two names at a time… those people are gonna spar against each other."
"There is an odd number…" I spoke.
The Urameshi boy apparently hadn't thought of this before, but quickly jumped to an idea… surprisingly, "I'll take out the name that hadn't been chosen, and draw one of the already chosen names out of the hat again. So someone would fight twice."
We were stunned by his thinking skills. "Alright," Yusuke reached into the hat, "The first two are—"
"Let Lynn decide," I demanded.
Urameshi stared at me quizzically, "The bird? Why?"
"Just to be sure you don't rig it." Answering to my demand, Lynn hopped onto the rim of the hat and pecked out two slips of paper.
Kurama reached out a read them aloud, "Life and myself. The next two will be," he took two more pieces of paper from Lynn, "Kuwabara and Yusuke."
"That leaves shrimp and the mystery person…" they shuffled the hat and Kuwabara retrieved the paper from the raven, "Life."
"Lovely," I stepped into the center of the arena and Kurama situated himself in front of me.
"Best of luck," Kurama smiled warmly.
"Et vous," my French accent flowed gracefully.
"No need for fancy shmancy American," Kuwabara waved off, "It's just a fight."
I rolled my eyes. He really is an imbecile…
"Okay, anything goes… except killing… but that won't happen… Life…" Urameshi hinted toward me.
"I am aware," I groaned.
"Good! Now, GO!"
The both of us stood there… just stood there… staring into each other's eyes. Emerald green against pale gray and green. Each of us waited for the other's first move. For five minutes, the first move hadn't come.
"Get ON with it already!" the oaf whined.
Taking that as a cue, Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a red rose. "Rose Whip!"
To my hidden amazement, that rose didn't stay a rose. It became, well… a 'Rose Whip'. I didn't stand in my place for much longer. No one really would when a whip of thorns was shot at you.
I leapt into the air and broke into bats. The swarm of me went straight at his face. His whip slashed wildly at my bats before I regrouped several feet behind him. I had light cuts here and there, as well as Kurama, but I definitely was on the worse end.
The whip slashed out at me again. My bo staff twirled from underneath my right shoulder and I held it out as a block, gripped tightly in my hands. The whip caught the bo and wrapped around it. I smirked and pulled the whip towards me, pulling Kurama along with it.
Kurama still stumbled when I leapt forward and front snap kicked him beneath the chin. His head shot up and I followed with a forward hook kick with the same leg, not even letting my foot down until I finished the kicked.
I found myself in a cat stance, standing over Kurama's fallen self. I set my rose wrapped bo like a staff for my needless support. "And here I thought you'd be a challenge."
I gasped at the new pain around my torso. The rose had twisted itself around me into a sharp, excruciating bind. How?
"I would've figured you knew I control plants," Kurama's voice was calm and composed.
That damn drunken shape-shifter didn't tell me you could do that, that's why.
I winced as the whip tightened, as much as I tried to suppress it. I finally clasped my hands over the whip, feeling the thorns dig into my palms. My hands glowed a pale purple, "Exsurdo." All the thorns on the whip dulled, until they seemed to shrivel away completely. Now I only had to deal with the whip that was still applying excruciating pressure to the cuts. But, I could not grab the katana that what also under the bind of the whip, and there was no spell that came to mind.
I dropped to my knees from the pain as Kurama rose to his feet. I'm such a fool…
"Kurama wins!"
The whip released its grip on me and morphed back into a simple rose, which the fox picked up and tucked back into his hair, where it seemingly disappeared. He reached out a hand to me, "Pleasure sparring you," he played his signature smile.
I glared, "Hn," and pulled myself up, refusing his hand. My pride was near its breaking point. How could I possibly lose so easily? But I knew the answer. It was that rose…
That rose is a plant, like a tree. Even though the rose wasn't wood, it was close enough to be able to leave longer lasting damage. The wounds would probably take several hours to completely heal.
I hadn't known he could control plants either, that was mistake number two. Two too many.
"You did good your first try, Life," the detective patted my shoulder as I stepped to the sidelines. I shrugged off his hand and sat on the bench. I glared at empty space in front of me. It was then that a thought occurred to me, and I mentally smacked myself for not thinking of it then, DAMNIT! I could've burned the fucking whip off! I'm so stupid!
I'll have to make it up with the fight against Hiei…
Kuwabara and Urameshi stepped out onto the arena. "Begin!" Kurama hollered.
I looked at my torn shirt. It was one of my favorites. Keyword: Was. I only owned three other tops. I ripped off the bottom of my top, turning it into a belly shirt. I examined the wounds all across my torso, and pulled out a total of two giant thorns before setting them on the bench beside me.
"I'm sorry," I only glanced at Kurama before returning to my stomach.
My hand glowed orange, "Rememdium." It was a poor healing spell, only enough to turn the fresh wounds into grotesque oozing scabs. I had to save my energy for the fight to come. "They're infected."
"Here," Kurama knelt down, "Let me take a look at them." I didn't pay attention as Kurama tended to my injuries. I was watching the fight between the two mortals. Yusuke could beat the oaf in a minute, I knew that, and it was easy to tell he was toying with him.
My interest wandered off elsewhere for several minutes until the sound of two boy's snickering caught my attention.
"What is it now?" I asked the two mortals, exasperated.
Kuwabara chuckled, "Having fun down there, Kurama?"
I looked down at the forgotten Kurama. He had been tending my wounds, but apparently a gash near my bellybutton had an interest to him or something. He was situated on his knees and absently between my legs, and his face was really close to my bellybutton. I must say I was very curious at how he got between my legs. Overall, from the mortals' point of view, it looked VERY wrong.
Kurama seemed to notice what bad position he was in as well, because he stood quickly, so quickly in fact that his head bashed into my chin.
"Eh!" I stuck out my tongue, which was now bleeding profusely.
"Are you okay?" Kurama grabbed my hand, his face beet red.
"Hey, Kurama! Maybe if you kiss it, you'll make it better!" Kuwabara joked. I glared at the carrot-top.
"I'm fine, Kurama," I retrieved my tongue, "It's already healed."
The blush still planted on his face, he released my hands and turned away. "I thought I saw a thorn healing in one of her wounds," the kitsune scratched the back of his head.
"You looked a little too comfortable down there, fox," Hiei finally spoke from his resting place on the floor against the wall.
The boys continued making their jokes, "You mortals really deserve to be meals if you can find so many things to be sexual." Okay, sure I thought what they were saying sounded appropriate, considering the embarrassing situation… but the mention of them being meals shut them up.
Urameshi and Kuwabara squeaked, "O-okay!" And then a "You and Hiei are next," from the detective.
I stood up and tugged on my trench for no particular reason except to somehow warm up my bare stomach. For the second time in less than an hour, I stood near the center of the arena across from my opponent. Then, it was Kurama: The Thief; and now it was Hiei: The Short.
"Life's gonna get her ASS kicked!" a very bruised Kuwabara spoke haughtily.
"I take that as a challenge," despite my loss with Kurama, unless Hiei had some hidden plant power, this would all go to me, "Wish to lay money down?"
"Hell YEAH, I would!" ¥2000 all to Shorty!"
"¥2000 to me," Vegas, here I come, "Anyone else?"
Hiei didn't look at anyone, "2000 on myself."
"Sorry, Life," the Urameshi boy apologized, "But my money's against you. ¥2000 on Hiei."
"How 'bout you, Kurama?" Kuwabara pleaded hopefully.
"I've already established that I don't gamble if it isn't necessary," Kurama practically preached.
"Same rules as last time, then."
I stepped back into a Kempo fighting stance, and caught Hiei's eyes for the first time since the night before. Those irises were the color of old dried blood and full of malice.
"Have fun losing," I mocked.
"You don't have anyone to help you cheat through this one."
Yusuke looked as if he was looking forward to a bit of cash, "Ready… GO!"
At a speed nearly matching my teleportation abilities, he appeared behind me, holding his katana to my throat, "Hn. And here I thought you would put up a bit more of a fight," Hiei whispered coldly.
I only smirked, "It will be," I backed up into him and dropped down, out of the away from the katana, and swept my bo at his legs.
He bounded out of the way and came back at me; his katana prepared to come down at my collar. I held a rising block with the bo, and felt the pressure of the weapons make contact. My trusty weapon held off the katana with a small dent as vibrations were sent throughout my arms. Despite the affective block, the Makai demon continued to force the sword down as I forced to hold the block up.
It became my flaw when without warning; he withdrew his katana and swung it up from beneath the bo. It caught me by such surprise, I lost my grip on the weapon and it was hurled twenty feet away.
I sprung backward and into the air. I broke up into bats and flew at his face in a swarm. So what if I've used it before? It's a classic. He swung his katana around almost aimlessly, confused and aggravated, just what I wanted. I merged together behind him. He twisted around and slashed his blade toward my stomach.
Even though it didn't show on his face, I knew he was surprised to see me catch his blade in the prongs of my sais. I grinned at his fury before releasing my right hand from the block, flipped the sai in my hand, hilt forward, and jabbed him below the sternum. He doubled over and I kneed him in the nose, sending him flying back into a column.
I vanished and reappeared next to him, "He's out," I said after looking him over, "I wi—" I was cut short when a red, sticky blade was protruded through my stomach and out my back.
The boys on the sidelines gasped. I turned my head to Hiei. His face was not of shock or regret, but monotone. I knew he knew what I knew, which the others should have known, but seemed to forget that they knew.
I staggered back, the katana still in my chest. I stared at the blade with almost a fake shock. That fake shock was obvious when it turned into sheer annoyance. I gripped the hilt of the sword and pulled it away from my abdomen until I could no longer reach the hilt, the blade still in me. I grasped the blade tightly and pulled the rest of it out with a small shlurp. I let the sword fall to the floor with a clatter.
The hole in my stomach healed before the eyes of the mortals. My hand lunged at Hiei's throat and began to squeeze, "How many times do I have to say that doesn't kill vampires?" I snarled. Next to my thumb on his neck, I saw, were to healing scars. Flashes of the night before went through my mind.
A sharp jab to my abdomen informed me I had lost control of the match, and I soared ten feet and landed on my back. My sais were now lost.
"Damn," I muttered. Hiei was in the air and about to land a downward punch. "Receptus!" my body shined a white-ish color before my entire body broke into thousands of shimmering energy balls of orange, red, purple, and blue, and shot off in thousands of different directions. It was just in time, because not even a second later, the floor caved in a bit from Hiei's missed punch.
The iridescent balls of energy regrouped in the shadow of a column fifty feet away. He lunged at me again and we engage in hand-to-hand combat for about ten minutes. Our fighting captivated the others. "Ooh's" and "Ah's" were played like a broken record with each connecting strike.
I was growing tired. My attacks began to slur and were blocked more frequently as my attacks connected less. I needed a break. My eyes glanced up at the ceiling were the large lights were hung…
I collected the burning red energy in my hand. I leapt back and thrust my open hand into the air, "Amens inflo!" My hand gleamed ever brighter as most of the lights on the arena side of the gym madly blasted into booming flames. The flames died quickly to leave the arena enshrouded in shadows.
"Integumentum," my voice faded into the shadows, as well as my form… literally. I leaned against a column and silently slid to the floor and watched the goaded Makai demon search for my presence. And he was only five feet in front of me.
"Try detecting her Spirit energy, Hiei!" Yusuke hollered his suggestion.
Spirit energy?
"I've already tried that," I heard him mutter.
"Yeah, Urameshi," Kuwabara spoke, "I've tried it, too. But she doesn't seem to even have any."
"Maybe she's masking it," the detective suggested.
"The dead technically don't have Spirit energy," Kurama clarified, "Vampires are basically dead, and so it makes sense that you can't detect her Spirit energy. She doesn't even have it," then he added, "Please don't take that offensively, Life!"
No problem.
Hiei's aggravation had risen greatly, "Show yourself, or I win by default, you damn parasite!"
If his goal was to piss me off enough to charge at his blindly, he almost accomplished that. Instead, I forced myself to my feet, and my foot slipped; a loud clonk echoed in the arena. I narrowly darted out of the range of a katana that collided against the column. I saw the determination in Hiei's eyes to behead me… trust me, I was standing right next to him. He still couldn't see me though; my spell made me invisible as long as I was in the shadows, or until my energy ran low, which it was.
I soundlessly walked away from the pissed Makai demon to the edge of the shadows before the first working light, about a hundred feet away. I turned to face the back of the demon before taking that one step back to regain visibility in the light.
I just stood there carelessly for a minute before the first person even realized where I was.
"Hey, Shrimp! She's over there!"
Hiei ignored the 'Shrimp' and turned to the grinning me. He charged, his katana in hand and advanced at me with lightning speed. But it wasn't fast enough to stop my spell.
"Constringo," my light purple shimmering hand clenched in front of me. A lavender aura surrounded Hiei in mid-run before rushing in on him and held him in a bind that sent him to the floor in a ridged state.
I withdrew my katana and held it to his throat "I win… Fair. And. Square." It was simple to tell he was trying to break free of the visible bind, but of course, it was pointless.
"Hiei, she's right. She won," Urameshi's tone was disappointed.
I set my katana in noto, and took three steps back only out of habit from doing that at the end of each katana kata. "Sano."
Hiei's body relaxed and pulled himself to his feet as I collected my sais and rattan bo. If looks could kill, I would have been on an express lane to Hell.
"What's for supper? I'm hungry!" Kuwabara whined.
"I'm not surprised," Kurama looked at his watch, "It's 8:30 now."
Lynn took off from her perch on top of a punching bag and landed on my shoulder. She nibbled on one of my earrings affectionately, as if to politely say she was hungry as well.
"Before I leave, you each owe me ¥2000," I sneered and held out my hand expectantly.
The mortals reluctantly reached for their wallets and handed me a total of ¥4000. Hiei, however, made no move to pay.
"A bet's a bet. Pay up."
"She's right, Hiei," Kurama tried to reason.
He still made no move to pay me my money.
My money-loving mood was turning into a hate-ones-who-won't-give-me-my-money mood. "Fine! But you will pay me later!"
"For how long will make up for ¥2000, Hiei?" Kuwabara sniggered.
I glared at the oaf, "Vis vires." The carrot top was next seen entangled in a complicated weight lifting mechanism.
"You're starting to make a habit of this, Kuwabara," Yusuke said with an almost giddy smile, "Where're you going?" he asked me as I made my way out of the gym.
"To eat."
"But you have to have someone with you."
"Hiei can do it," Kurama proposed. I stopped.
"NO!" Hiei's face burned with fury.
"Why not? If you're so reluctant to pay the bet, you might as well take her out to eat. Four times. 500 can be paid off each meal."
Hiei looked as if he wanted to stab a personally sharpened chopstick into his voice box.
"Well, that's settled then," I turned to stop them only to see that they already moved ahead of me out the door, "See you two whenever!"
ooo
Hiei had escorted me to the 'Ningenkai'. Lynn took flight in search for her own food as I soundlessly stepped through the forests with open eyes and ears. Much to my disappointment, the best luck I had in over a half hour was a nest of rats. I snatched three by the tail and hopped into the tree Hiei had perched himself in.
I held out a squirming rat to him, somewhat hopeful he calmed his nerves. He opened an eye, wrinkled his nose in disgust, and slapped the rat out of my hand, sending the vermin plummeting headfirst into a boulder near the base of the tree. Needless to say, that rodent wasn't getting up anytime soon… or at all.
"Goddess! I was only being considerate," I turned away from him, "Damn, you're such a sore loser."
"You cheated."
I stared at him in disbelief, "…Whatever…"
Silence.
"Are you going to eat those things or not?" he snapped.
I held up the two writhing rodents in my hands. Rat A had good muscle tone, nice coat, a nick in its left ear, but a little on the scrawny side. Rat B had decent muscle tone, dirty, greasy coat, scratches all over its face, a missing paw, but definitely one of the miniature mutant capybara type of animal. Choices, choices…
Finally making my decision, I introduced the smaller rat to Mr. Rock and took a bite into the huge rat with a heartwarming crunch. I withdrew from the rat and gagged like a seven-year-old mortal choking down asparagus.
"Delicious, isn't it?" Hiei mocked.
"Rats blood is one of the foulest…" I scraped some of the blood off my tongue with my nails, "You mortals are reducing me to a street vamp."
He snorted. "What happened?" I asked.
Hiei's eyes met mine. Coldness radiated from those eyes somehow. "We're going back. Now." He completely ignored me as if I never said a word. But I know I did. And I know he heard me.
Regardless of this, I silently followed him toward the portal out of the mortal world. I caught sight of Lynn as she flew down toward me, and I held out my hand expectantly. But she brushed right past my hand and landed on the Makai demons' shoulder, cawing tenderly.
She hates men. What's wrong with her? I just kept walking and watched Hiei stroke Lynn's breast feathers.
We soon entered the living room of Koenma's Palace to see Urameshi, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Botan already squeezed together on the couch. Mum was there as well on loveseat with a teenage mortal boy with brown hair and a… pacifier?
"Koenma?" I elucidated, "Taking your vitamins lately?"
The detective and 'psychic' snickered, Koenma scowled.
"You're not locked up in your room, Mum," I acknowledged, "Have you even been eating?"
"Koenma was nice enough to have those hospital packets delivered to me," she explained.
I glared at the toddler in disguise, "Don't I get that option?"
He shrugged, "Aren't you supposed to be on probation?"
"Aren't you supposed to be working?"
Nothing personal, but I really didn't like Koenma that much… okay, maybe it was personal… okay, definitely it was personal, but that doesn't make any difference how I disliked him.
Their seats were all planted around the normal sized coffee table, which two boxes of delivery pizza were spread out. Hiei reached over and grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza before situating himself on his normal spot on the window.
"Want a slice?" Urameshi offered a piece to my face. I sniffed it cautiously and growled, turning my face to it in disgust.
"So, how was dinner anyway?" Mum asked.
"One of the shittiest." I replied nonchalantly.
The Reikai Tantei seemed faintly flabbergasted for me to speak that way in front of my mother. "What was there?" Mum questioned imperturbably.
"A rat," I seated myself on the arm of the loveseat, next to her.
"Sorry to hear that."
"I am, too," Yusuke dropped his plate of pizza; "I wonder why I lost my appetite," he pondered sarcastically.
"Let's watch a movie!" Botan cheered for reasons unknown to neither man nor beast. Not waiting for anyone's response, she hopped up and popped in a DVD.
"What m—" but Koenma was cut short when the same blue ogre I had seen when I got here stumbled into the room.
"Koenma, Sir!" he cried panicky.
"What is it now, George?!"
"Your father, King Yemma, says if you don't get back to work right now, he's gonna give you a hundred spankings!"
"WHA?!" Koenma jumped off the seat and nearly tripped over the coffee table.
"Speedy. But I say you lost some points on grace," I indifferently spoke as I stole his previous seat. But the prince didn't hear me… he was long gone by the time I finished the sentence, along with the ogre.
"These mortals are highly unusual," Mum muttered under her breath. I nodded in agreement.
"What are we watching?" Kurama asked.
"Please let there be some blood and gore," I heard Yusuke plead.
"It's my favorite romance movie of all time! Moulin Rouge!" my eyes narrowed.
"A chick flick?!" Urameshi whined, "I hate chick flicks!"
"HEY!" Kuwabara yelled, "DON'T make fun of Moulin Rouge! It's my favorite lovey-dovey movie, too!"
I could have laughed at that one. "Oh yeah, this one coming from the guy who's obsessed with kittens!" the detective retorted.
"Kittens are cute! Deal with it!"
And when I thought they couldn't behave any more child-like, Urameshi stuck his tongue out at him Kuwabara countered with the same attack. Needless to say, most of everyone sweat dropped to this.
"Remember the Moulin Rouge," Mum said, "I only had a chance to look at it from afar, but I saw it a long time ago when it was still used for whoring off females."
"Really? I mean they really did that? For real?" Mum nodded.
"I was there in… what was it? 1900?"
"April of 1896," I corrected emotionlessly.
"Why didn't you get a better look at it?"
"Because she fell ill when we were in Paris, so she was in bed for six months before we could even leave," I replied coldly.
"Did you see it? Up close?" Urameshi asked eagerly.
I glared at him, shrugged, and stood up, "Hn. I may have given it a once over." I made my way to my room.
"Ooh! Was it the way it was in the movie?" Botan chirped.
"No." I left without another word or another glance.
ooo
I leaned against the railing of the balcony, just staring out at the orange sky… not that there was much else to look at out there. I smacked my head on the rail.
Too many memories in one Earth's rotation… Too many memories, too many things reminding me… and for some reason the reminders all are deeply connected to the memories that are also connected. Too many connections.
"Life," I spun around to see Mum in my room, behind the line of a shadow.
"What?" I had been to deep in my memories to actually hear her enter.
She turned away and walked to the wall my bed rested against, "Something has been troubling you lately and I want to know what."
"How was the movie?"
"Don't change the subject," she took a step onto the wall and began her ascent, "You were behaving quite incongruously when Paris was brought up."
I rested against the wall and gazed up at my mother, who was currently pacing the ceiling. I wish I could do that… "Just old memories that take pleasure in haunting me, is all."
Mums' long black hair swayed in the air, and it reminded me of a broomstick. All I would have to do is hop and I could just yank her down… sounds like fun.
"When I was ill?" she sighed, "That was nearly a hundred and ten years ago. I'm all well and fine now. You have that mystic warrior, François, to thank for that."
I growled, François… That damn François. I hated him. I wasn't saying I wasn't grateful for what he did for Mum. I was very grateful. It was almost never when someone of the Day World would help one of our kind. But what had to be done for him to save her… unforgivable.
"How old is he now? I think I remember him saying it was his one hundred and thirty-fourth birthday in July when I was there…"
"Two hundred and forty-two. If you were any slower, you'd match Kuwabara's standards."
"Don't take that tone with me. I am your mother."
"Wow, that's a good one," I snickered.
Mum's glare could have killed a mortal, until an amused grin spread her lips. Suddenly, she dropped; her body twisted, allowing her to land gracefully on her feet.
She reached for my wrist and pulled me into a hug, "I'd like to announce to all the worlds and societies. I have here, the greatest daughter any creature, immortal or not; could ever ask for."
That's the chapter!
I would like to say I got a new obsession: Fruits Basket. My cousin lent me the 4 DVD's of Fruits Basket, and I was laughing my ass off. And because of my new obsession, I bought my very first manga book today. I'm growing up! :') :')
And to all the people who followed me from Quizilla, yes. I know I changed the long ending, but after I thought about it, it just made it harder for me to go with it… and I could have so much more fun with the story in a future chapter that I have written in my mind. But to get rid of the old, it was kind of hard to put in the new, and will force me to put more adjustments in future chapters. But, it should be good. BETTER. Sorry to the quizilla people in the past who messaged me about really liking that part of the chapter… hee hee. Anyway.
REVIEW Please!
-The Hidden Pagan (a.k.a. Seira Relur)