Katanas on Ice, Hearts on Fire YYH Hiei Surprises Galore
The next morning, you were awakened by some girl opening the curtains. You moan and roll over. "Come on! It's time to wake up! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and everyone else is eating breakfast!" You moan again. The girl pulls the pillow off your face. The light burns your eyes. You squeeze them shut, and wince. The girl in front of you had baby blue long hair pulled up in a high ponytail and pink eyes, and a HUGE smile.
"HIYA!" She says cheerily.
Oh dear. She's cheerier than my mother…I'm doomed.
The girl keeps smiling.
" Breakfast is over in a 15 minutes, you might want to hurry down or you'll have to go without it all day. And breakfast is the most important meal of the day! You don't want to miss that!"
With that, she left the room. You were severely tempted to roll over and go back to sleep but not wanting her to come back in again, you crawl out of bed. You change into another tank top and a pair of black jeans. You grab your cloak and both of your katanas.
I hope I don't run into that excessively cheery girl again…
Unfortunately, life is filled with hopes, but not all of them are fulfilled. This was one of them. When you got to the cafeteria, the girl was talking happily with Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama (now in human form), and Yukina and Keiko. Hiei was missing.
Wonder where he is…wait, why do I care? I don't! You try to convince yourself. CRAP! The cheery one is coming this way! You look around desperately for somewhere to hide, but as you turn around to run, you bump into, of all people,
Your mother. She smiles at you.
"Oh, Rai, I see you've met your aunt."
My aunt? "No I haven't." You say confused.
"Yes you have. Botan, come over here."
To your horror, the girl from this morning comes over, with another cheery.
"HIYA!"
You stare in horror. This is my AUNT! There is no way I'm even remotely connected to this person!
It shows in your hairstyle.
Hiei, how nice of you to join us. Where are you?
Behind you. Or I was. Now I'm next to Kurama, looking at your horror.
You turn your gaze to him. He was smirking. That made you mad. You wanted to go over and punch him, but Botan, if that was her name, came up and hugged you, bouncing up and down.
"It's been such a long time! Last time I saw you, you were tiny." She finally stops jumping and let's go. You collapse on the ground, dizzy from all the bouncing. Every thing was spinning.
"Whoa…"
Your mother laughs.
"Well, you seem to be surprised…."
"Surprised-" You start angrily.
Stop. Think before you say anything else.
Thank you, Hiei. Now get out of my head.
Hn.
I'll thank you later…in person, after I get rid of the bouncing cheer bomb
A smile spreads across his face, and he leaves your mind.
"Mother, can I speak to you-alone."
Your mother looks at you funny but follows you out.
"Yes, Rai? What is it?"
"This has to be some kind of joke. There is no way, I'm related to that bouncing ball of cheer."
"There's nothing wrong with being cheery."
"Right. But there is something wrong with being that cheery, all the time. Its-Its-Its abnormal."
She frowns.
"Rai darling, There is nothing abnormal about being so happy all the time, why, your father-"
She stops and her body stiffens up. You stiffen as well. She had talked about your father. She never did that.
"Nevermind. But she is the last of your fathers siblings."
"She's from Dad's side of the family?"
"Yes."
"Was he like that?"
She freezes.
"No. But he wasn't like you act either. He- he was different."
The subject was closed.
"Try to be nice, Rai."
"I will…" Try anyway
You walk back into the cafeteria. Everyone else was already eating now. You get a tray and bring you waffles over to the table. Food just wasn't what you wanted right now. Right now you wanted-
Someone tapped you on the shoulder. You turn around and glare at the person. It was Yusuke.
"Hey, Rai. We have a surprise for you."
"I've had enough surprises for one day."
"I think you'll like this one better than finding out that Botan is your aunt."
"I'll pass."
Rai. Trust me. You'll like this one.
How can I trust you when you keep invading my head!
You'll just have to trust me.
No.
Hn. Go, or I'll tell Botan that you own nothing that isn't black.
How would that make me want to go?
She'll go ballistic and take you to the mall.
What's a mall?
Trust me. You wouldn't like it.
There's that phrase again.
Do it, or I'll invoke the contract.
Dang it, Hiei!
Hn.
You glare across the table at him. He's smirking.
Fine. But if I don't like it…
You will.
You still don't believe it.
Let's make a little bet. If you don't like it, I will release you from the contract. But if you do like it, you owe me an apology, and a favor of my choice.
You think for a moment.
" Fine. "
You turn to Yusuke.
"Lets go."
He smiles and walks out the door. The others follow him. All but you and Hiei.
"Well?"
"I'm going…"
You walk slowly out, trudging along. Hiei was following behind you. You reach the entrance to the grounds and everyone stops. You end up running into Kurama, but manage not to fall. You peek around him and the others. Grass. Green grass. Not much else.
"What's so surprising about this?"
Hiei pushes you out onto the grass. You look around and then turn around to face them.
"There's nothing here but-OOF!"
You fall forward, something heavy on your back.
"Ow…that hurts…" You roll over, and the thing jumps off. It's looks like tiny little black kitten. With three tails. Of different colors. And tiny silver wings. And ears twice as big as its head. You scratch behind one of its ears.
"Yuriko? What are you doing here?"
"She came with me." Someone says from behind you.
You turn around standing above you was…
"Hotaru?"
She nods.
You stand up excited. She loses all self-control and hugs you tightly.
"Ack…Hotaru…can't…. breathe…"
She finally lets go.
"Oops…sorry."
You sigh.
"It's okay." Then she starts bouncing around.
"I missed you so much; Maemi was in tears when I came back. She thought you had died, and Yuriko was all depressed. She wouldn't eat very much, only like a bite of food. She didn't sleep very well either. Her tails kept changing colors. Like red, then at one point they turned yellow, and twice they were bright pink. While we were waiting they turned gray. What does that mean?"
You clamp a hand over her mouth.
"Shut it, Hotaru. Before I fill it with something you probably don't want in it."
She stops.
"Thank you."
You turn around to the others, but they were staring at Yuriko. You look at her. She wasn't glowing or anything.
"What's so interesting about my pet?"
Yusuke looks at you in shock.
"Your pet? That is not a pet, that is Spirit Beast."
"And?"
"Spirit Beasts aren't pets."
"This one is. Have a problem with that?"
Kuwabara was just staring at the kitty…When he reaches out to touch it you reach out with one hand and hit his away from her, then go back to bickering with Yusuke, who is convinced that "that "thing" is a "dangerous" animal and shouldn't be treated as a pet.
Riiiight….
Keiko makes an interesting point.
"But, Yusuke, Puu isn't dangerous."
Yusuke gets a look on his face that just screams, 'Holy Cheese on Rye, how could I forget that?' He turns toward her
"Don't bring him-"
Too late. She pulled out a little blue bird-like Spirit Beast, with big floppy ears, and a small tuft of black hair. It did remind you of Yusuke- in a strange sort of way. For the first time in years, you burst out in uncontrolled laughter.
"You"re sitting here yelling about my Spirit Beast, and you've got one too? Of all the ridiculous things in the-"
You can't talk anymore, you"re laughing too hard. Hotaru is rolling around on the ground, she was laughing so hard. Botan, Keiko, and your mother are giggling, Kurama is laughing, and even Hiei was chuckling under his breath. Yuriko starts chattering and her tails turn a purple color. You somehow manage to stop laughing.
"Okay…I needed that…" You notice that Kuwabara wasn't laughing.
Well, duh, he was covered in a thin layer of ice, barely 3 centimeters thick.
"Um…Mom…I did it again."
You mother stops giggling and looks at the frozen Kuwabara.
"Oh, Rai, not again."
She glides over and taps his head.
"It's not my fault! How do we fix it?"
"Normally we would have someone with fire powers come and un-ice him, but there's no one here."
You glance over at Hiei
No…
Hiei… Personally, I like the big lumox frozen
Personally, I think we should leave him frozen.
I know, but that's not an option.
He walks over and hits the frozen dunce over the head. Where the hand made contact a thin flame spread across the surface of the ice, melting it. When it reached his toes it went out. He was staring around blankly.
" What happened?"
What an idiot
Should have left him that way
Oh well he'll come to his senses…eventually
You've only known him, for what, three days?
Five, actually. Six if you count the tournament.
The mention of the tournament stops even your thoughts.
You owe me for fixing you mistake.
What?
You heard me.
You glare at him.
You live to make me miserable, don't you?
No, it's just a perk.
I'm gonna…
You're not going to do anything other than meet me at the training field, at midnight.
You start to argue, but give up. No use arguing, he'd win.
Fine.
After Kuwabara finally came to his senses, or what little he has, everyone went inside. Hotaru's stuff had been moved to the room on the left of yours. This got you wondering how many other people had rooms around you. You look at your door number. 372. Right across the hall to your left was Kurama's room. Across from his was Hotaru's, 370. To your right, you had no idea.
You make a mental note to ask someone. Helping Hotaru settle in would be a chore. Not. She made friends as easily as she breathed. But you went into her room anyway.
It was an insanely bright shade of yellow.
You close your eyes.
The brightness of the room was just too much. Even Hotaru was having issues. She closed the curtain.
"Thank you." You mutter.
There was a dim glow from a lamp in one corner that made it easy enough to see. Every thing else in the room was a nice dark blue.
"Those walls have to go." Hotaru says, and snaps. The walls instantly change to a nice dark color of green.
"That's better."
You nod vigorously. Other than the color scheme, the room was pretty much the same as yours. You lean against the wall. To your surprise, the wall slides up, and you fall into….
...Your room
Very confused, you look around, and back into Hotaru's room. She stared in. "Wow…Secret door! Awesome!"
She comes in and looks around.
"This is so you, Rai. It even smells right."
" I know."
The conversation would have continued, but the lunch bell rang, and the two of you raced toward the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was packed as usual. Between finding Youko alive last night, and having Hotaru here, you were in high spirits. Yuriko's tails were glowing a pleasant shade of blue. But the biggest surprise was yet to come…
After dinner, Yuriko began to look anxious, though her tails were still the same color blue. You pet her down to try to calm yourself down more than anything. What would happen tonight?
Hotaru pokes her head in.
"Hey, we're getting together to play a game, want to come?"
"No, not really…"
She comes in.
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Come on Rai!"
"No."
You catch a glimpse of Yukina dragging an unhappy Hiei down the hall.
Poor you…
You"re coming too.
Am not.
Yes, you are. They've got orders.
From who?
Your crazy aunt.
Mentally, you make a face.
You'll be following me…
Will not!
Care to make a bet?
Not really.
Then Hotaru grabs your shoulder and pushes you down the hall.
"You"re coming whether you like it or not."
She pushes you into what is definitely a boy's room. Judging by the color, and the fact that it was Keiko who was sitting on the bed, you were guessing it was Yusuke's. Hotaru plops you down on the ground and sits next to you. Across from you is Hiei.
Told you.
Shut up.
Hn.
Glaring at him, you turn your attention to Botan, who is delighted that everyone is here. Somehow, she'd even dragged the His Royal Babyness into it, too.
This ought to be interesting…
Hopefully they'll settle on a card game…
Instead of?
Instead of Truth or Dare.
Uh…what's that?
You don't want to know…
You shrug. Botan starts to speak.
"All right. Since everyone is here, we can begin. I've asked us all here so we can get to know each other. We're going to this by asking each other questions, and the person will answer them truthfully. If you lie, we get to throw you into the icy cold lake. Kay? Let's play!"
Well it could be worse…
How?
She could actually be able to know when we lie…
Botan asked the first question.
"Rai, how many times have you lost a sword fight?"
"Once."
Hiei raises an eyebrow.
You mean against me?
The death glare you sent his way could have killed a troll. Anyway it was your turn now.
"Kuwabara, have you ever had a date?
"…no. Rai. Do you ever go anywhere without your katanas?"
"No. Koenma, ever wet your pants?"
"No."
"Not even a little?"
"Well, once, when I was first born."
Everyone laughs.
"Hotaru. Ever beat Rai at anything?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"A race. That's why we came to the tournament in the first place. And some other things occasionally. Yusuke. Ever kissed Keiko?"
Keiko and Yusuke both blush.
"Uh…No?"
"Liar." You say suddenly.
He freaks out. Everyone smirks.
"Yusuke gets thrown in the lake…."
Kuwabara and Botan grab Yusuke's arm and drag him outside. Everyone else follows. They reach a sprawling lake, not far from the clearing where you trained yesterday. They unceremoniously toss him in.
The resulting splash soaked everyone. Yusuke rose to the surface coughing and sputtering.
"I can't believe-"
Then he sees everyone else, almost as wet as he is. He stops yelling and begins to laugh. You glare at him. You don't appreciate getting wet very much. A few muttered words and a wave of your hand and the water around him began to swirl.
"What the –"
The water pulls him under, all except for his head.
"H-h-h-h-hey this isn't funny…"
You wave your hand again and the water spews up like a geyser, with Yusuke bouncing at the top. You have the water let him down. A thoroughly shaken Yusuke crawls out of the water. You laugh quietly under your breath.
Nice.
You spin around at look at Hiei innocently.
I didn't do anything…
He smirks.
I never said you did…
How'd you know?
Your spirit energy flared.
Whatever.
Everyone was heading back to the room. A clock on the outside of the building tells you it's about 9:30. Back in the room, Botan reminds Yusuke it's his turn.
"Right. Hiei. When was the last time you lost a fight."
"Yesterday."
Everyone stares in shock- everyone but you. You simply smirk and look at the ground.
"Hn. Botan. Do you ever shut up?"
Botan glares in response.
" No. Kurama. Who in the room have you met before you joined the team?"
Ooh. Bad question. Here it comes…You close your eyes.
"Uh. Hiei. And Rai."
"WHAT!"
You enter Kurama's head.
They seem surprised.
I know.
Ahhh…I'm relishing in this.
Hiei is just as shocked as the rest of them.
He is?
You open your eyes and look at his face. Yep. That's shock all right. Had you a camera, you would have used it. As it was, you'd never forget that look on his face. You look around at everyone's faces. Yep. Priceless. All of them. You start laughing. When they recover, you are still laughing your head off.
Hotaru hits you upside the head.
You stop laughing.
"Ow."
There was a long moment of silence. Then Botan chirrups happily.
"Well. That was enlightening. Let's leave Yusuke to change out of his wet clothes. Good night, everybody.
Once back in your room you collapse on the bed. Yuriko's tails were bright purple from all the laughter.
That was actually…fun…
Yuriko looks up at you with her emerald eyes.
Don't forget you have a date with the short one…
Thanks, Yuriko. I don't think I can. What time is it?
Almost ten. If you want, you can sleep and I'll wake you up before midnight arrives.
"Thanks." You say aloud. She curls up at your feet and you drift into a peaceful sleep.
Rai…Rai…It's almost midnight. You've got a date, remember?
"It's not a date."
Okay, whatever you want to call it. But you got to go now.
"Okay."
You still haven't moved.
RAI!
You leap up.
"Okay! Okay! I'm up!"
Yuriko is sitting on the bedside table next to the orb. Her tails are yellow with anxiety and annoyance. You drowsily go to the bathroom where you splash the cold water over your face. Drying your face on one of the dark purple towels you notice you look happy. Your skin was glowing with a perfect complexion, and your eyes danced happily. Your hair, however, was a mess. Frowning you run a brush through it. When it was successfully un-messied, you rush out, in a black tank top with thick straps and black jean capris. You tie your hair back loosely in a black scrunchie. Then you grab a cloak and your katanas. Yuriko was waiting at the door.
Good luck.
"Do you think I need it?"
You might.
You scratch behind her ears and dash off toward the training field.
No one was there. You were confused. Then you realize he might have meant the clearing. You start off in that direction. When you arrive, no one was there either.
Okay…
You hear a soft noise behind you. You turn around and it's Hiei. Hanging from a branch.
You jump back. He jumps down.
"Hn." He glances down at your swords.
"You won't be needing those."
"And why not?"
He doesn't answer, but walks off toward the lake. You follow him.
"And why not?" You ask again.
He turns around smirking.
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Your going for a swim…"
"Wha-"
You scream as he pushes you into the frigid waters. You surface, coughing. Hiei is standing on the shore, perfectly dry, smirking. You dive under and swim toward the shore. Then you pop up and grab his ankle pulling him back under with you. You surface, treading water, and watch as he does the same next to you. You start laughing. He dives under. You look down, trying to find him, but you can't see him. Something wraps around your ankle, and pulls you under. You open your eyes and see Hiei, looking at you, smirking his head off.
How's this for a surprise?
I think finding Hotaru was the biggest surprise- you can't top that.
Hn. I think I can.
Really? How?
He wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you right to him. He kisses you, his lips barely touching yours, but it was still a kiss. Then you both have to surface for air. You stare in disbelief.
"I-"
He kisses you again, harder this time. Just as you untensed enough to enjoy it, he pulls away and swims toward shore. You follow.
"Well. That certainly was a surprise."
"Told you."
"All right. You win. "
"Hn."
He goes back to the complex, and you follow. You are soaking wet. You take a shower and collapse on the bed with a warm fuzzy feeling all over.