Winds of Thyme

By Sakura Takanouchi

~*~ Winds of Thyme Chapter Sixteen: An Explanation ~*~

Disclaimer: Hm.....How can I put this in a way that will not offend, humiliate, or restate myself: I own zip. Zero. Absolutely nothing. *sniff* As if you care.

Sakura woke up the next morning and looked around. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. She got out of bed, and then sat back down. She looked at her legs. Her right leg had a purple cast on it, and a cloth bandage was on her left ankle.

Just then the door opened. "Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" A cheerful blue-headed ferry girl said as she walked into the room.

"Who are you? And how do you know my name? Where am I?" Sakura asked.

"You're in Reikai, of course. Watashi wa Botan. When you fell out of that tree you were injured, but Kurama-san brought you back here," Botan answered.

"Kurama-kun?" Sakura asked. Just then, Kurama came in through the door pushing an empty purple wheelchair.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Hai!" She answered. "The wheelchair's for me, right?"

"Hai," Kurama responded. "Koenma wants an audience with you."

Kurama helped Sakura into the wheelchair, and Botan led the way to Koenma's office. Sakura and Kurama followed. 'I wonder why he wants to speak with me,' Sakura thought. 'He probably wants an explanation. It's the least I can do.'

~*~ In Koenma's Office ~*~

"Ah, so there you are," Koenma greeted Sakura as she came into the room.

"Ohayo, Koenma-san," Sakura responded. "I guess you want to ask me a few question, huh?"

"That would be correct," Koenma answered. "I already know your name, but I want to know first, how can you even go to the Makai, and why are you constantly finishing my tantei's missions before they even get there?"

"Okay. I can go to the Makai because, although I am a mere human, I do have spiritual awareness. I mean, take him over there," She said, pointing to Kuwabara. "My father was a shrine master in Kyoto, where I used to live. He also had spiritual awareness, and he used it to ward off demons and ghosts from both his shrine and the city of Kyoto. He kept telling me it was his duty to protect the innocent with the powers he was gifted with. When he died, it seemed like every demon in Makai was after the shrine and me." She started to cry, remembering all that had happened to her. Botan handed her a tissue to dry her tears.

"They wanted revenge," Sakura continued. " I was so scared, especially when this purple light emitted from my body and scared the demons away. That was actually my spirit awareness awakening. I promised myself that I'd become stronger, to protect the shrine, and my father's grave. That's why Kyoto is such a beautiful city. There are hardly any demons. So when I moved here, I did the same thing. I'm sorry if I interfered with your work, and I promise never to do it again if that is your wish," she stopped, and looked at Koenma.

"Well, I suppose I could always use you if a regular member of my team was hurt of if we needed an extra member," Koenma considered. "But I think that is all we need you for. Have you ever heard of the Dark Tournament, perhaps?"

"Yes, I have several apparition friends that attended the last one," Sakura replied. "We still keep in touch."

"Well, I may need you for that, and some missions, but that is all. You are free to go," Koenma said.

Sakura allowed the tantei to accompany her back to Ningenkai. "So, a fellow human who has spirit awareness, huh?" Kuwabara commented. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, and once you heal, maybe we could all hang out together or something," Yusuke said.

"Great. I'm a fast healer," Sakura said.

They went back to Sakura's apartment, still chatting. Kurama was pushing Sakura's wheelchair, and he, Yusuke, and Kuwabara lifted it up the stairs and set it down in front of the door.

"Arigatou," She thanked them.

"It was nothing," Kuwabara replied.

Sakura opened the door to her apartment and went inside. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama agreed to play video games at Kuwabara's apartment for a while, and started to head there.

"Hey, Kurama, I've been meaning to ask you something," Yusuke asked.

"Go right ahead," Kurama replied.

"Okay, well, you know when we were getting Sakura back to her place and all, you were pushing her wheelchair, and you never asked her for directions or anything. How come?" Yusuke asked.

"Oh, that. We go to the same school and are in the same grade," Kurama answered. "I've been to her apartment several times."

"Darn, and I thought she was cute," Kuwabara thought aloud.

"What?!" Yusuke and Kurama said in unison.

"Why would you say that?" Kurama asked.

"Well, I assumed since you had been to her apartment you two were... you know, going out," Kuwabara said, embarrassed.

Yusuke started laughing. Kurama looked at his feet as he walked, with a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Well, we've gone out once... but she's more my friend than my girlfriend," Kurama said.

"Well, good job," Yusuke congratulated Kurama by whacking him on the back (in a friendly way). "Now what do you say we go over to Kuwabara's house and kill several thousand people in Terror of the Night 3."

Kurama nodded, and Kuwabara took off running towards his apartment so that he could get it started quicker, and maybe it'd reach the menu of the game by the time Yusuke and Kurama got there.

~*~ At Sakura's House ~*~

Sakura got her dinner, ate it, and was just staring out the window when she sensed the presence of someone else. She looked away and wheeled herself to her bedroom to get some sleep.

~A/N~

Kyaah! I finished another one! YAY! I got another really good idea, so this will go on several more chapters. But you'll have to keep on reading to see how it ends. So you keep on reading while I keep on writing and everything will turn out peachy.

Sakura Takanouchi