"He's meeting us at the beach. He'll be there waiting for us." Yosei replied, wishing they could get of the subject of Shuuichi Minamino. Why was he all Maya ever talked about?
Maya smiled. "He's so... dreamy." Yosei rolled her eyes and pretended to gag, earning herself an elbow in the stomach.
"I'll meet you there in ten!" the redhead called over her shoulder as she ran off to get her swimming suit from her house. She had run two blocks when she turned a corner and ran right into the subject of her annoyance, the "dreamy" Shuuichi. He grabbed her arm to keep her from falling and gave her a concerned smile. "You alright?" he asked sweetly.
Yosei straightened herself and backed away a few steps. "I'm fine. I was just on my way to get my bathing suit."
Kurama blinked. "Oh..." This presented a mojor decision for him. He could walk Yosei to her house and wait for her to change, then walk with her to the beach, giving him time alone with her, or he could just go ahead to the beach and wait for another oppurtunity to present itself. Time alone with Yosei would be valuable because he could try to trigger an ability without putting Maya in danger. But spending time alone with Yosei could make Maya jealous and he could lose his closeness with the girl he cared for.
Yosei started to walk around him, so he made a split-second decision. "Hey, Yosei, can I come with you? We could walk to the beach together." He smiled cutely, turning on the charm.
Yosei resisted the urge to groan, returning his smile half-heartedly. "Sure. Why not?"
Kaizoku finally stood and went to the shelf, putting The Phantom of the Opera back in its place. She stood there for a moment, debating what she would read on her next visit to the library. The possibilities were wall to wall endless... She decided she would pick out a book later and headed for the door. It was about time she checked on her sister anyway.
She walked to the door and left, ignoring anyone who stared at her as she walked past. Why did everyone always stare? She hated that. Why did it matter that she wore black? She just wanted everyone to back off.
The redheaded girl turned to walk down an alley, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She would check home first in her search for Yosei. Their father would be gone to work already, so if Yosei wasn't there, Kaizoku would be all by herself. That was something she enjoyed. Perfect peace and solitude was something she craved. Just to get away from gangsters and everyone else. Just to be trapped within memories of her mother... She shook her head. Best not to think of that.
Kaizoku looked around her. Usually this alley was full of delinquents, but it was the fastest way to her house. Besides, she was in a weird mood so if anyone got in her way they'd be very sorry they did. She kept walking down the passageway, the sun peeking through the top of the buildings she was sandwiched in between.
BAM! A rock hit the wall right above Kaizoku's head. She turned around and there stood three large men- or boys... They couldn't have been over the age of seventeen. She gave them her most emotionless stare.
"Where you goin, punk?" the tallest one asked her roughly, a big smirk cracking across his face. "All by yourself?" He chuckled.
Kaizoku wrinkled her nose. "None of your business. Now if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be, so I'll just get out of here and save us all some trouble."
"What if it's trouble we want?" sneered the fat one on the right.
Kaizoku took a step back, pulling her hands out of her pockets and holding them at her sides, ready for anything. "Then you'll have to find it elsewhere."
"Why go to all that trouble? You're here, so we might as well have a little fun..." The fat one lunged for her and she grabbed his arm, shoving him against the wall, pushing his arm up behind his back. She shoved said arm up so hard he yelled in pain. She was sure she had broken his arm, so she let go of him and he slumped to the ground. "You criminals still want trouble?" she asked the others calmly.
The two looked at eachother in stunned surprise, then suddenly burst into wicked grins. They looked back at Kaizoku. "Hell yeah." the skinny one hissed. They charged her at the same time and it surprised her, so she had no time to react. They slammed her back against the wall, ramming her shoulders with theirs. She tried to scream, but the tall one clamped a hand over her mouth hard. She bit his hand, earning herself a hard slap on the face, and the hand just covered her mouth again. The slap had stung so badly it brought tears to her eyes.
Kaizoku's eyes widened as she felt one of the delinquents trying to rip her shirt off. She heard it tear and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to delay the tears.
"HEY! THIS AIN'T NO GANG BANG! GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Kaizoku opened her eyes, but she couldn't see through her tears. She heard the sound of fist meeting face and suddenly the punks messing with her were running away. She collapsed onto the concrete, sobbing, shielding her head with her arms for anything that might happen to her next... Someone took her arm and helped her up. She whimpered and fell forward, forcing her eyes open when the person caught her. She blinked away tears, not believing what- or who- she was seeing. "U-Urameshi?" she squeaked.
The dark-haired boy grinned. "You okay?"
She gave a choked sob/laugh and hugged him. "Urameshi!"
Yusuke let her hug him for a minute, then gently pushed her away. "Um... Koredake... your shirt..." he mumbled, looking away from her.
Kaizoku looked down at herself and turned bright red. "AH!" Those damn punks had ripped her shirt straight down the middle! She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Yusuke, her face burning.
He took off his jacket and handed it to her quietly, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.
The redhead put Yusuke's jacket on and fastened the buttons over her chest. "Th-Thank you... and thank you for saving me. I thought I was... was going to be..."
"Hey. Don't think about it, okay. But you got lucky. Don't go down anymore dark streets alone, okay? Who knows what could happen? Next time I might not be there to save you."
Kaizoku scrubbed the tears from her face, leaving her hands there to cover her face. "I... Urameshi, I... How could they...!" she hissed through gritted teeth. Her blood-red, collarbone-length hair began to float a little bit. Not straight up, but it just seemed to float unnaturally.
Yusuke's eyes widened and he backed away a little. "Koredake? What the...?"
She screamed and flames burst into existence, forming circlets around her body at the neck, hips and ankles. "JERKS!" she yelled.
Yusuke stared. He couldn't do anything! Fire was surrounding her body, so he couldn't touch her, and she wasn't necessarily trying to hurt him, so he couldn't attack! "Koredake! STOP IT! IT'S OVER! YOU'RE OKAY!" he yelled, trying to think of what to do. This didn't even make sense! Flames summoned by a human!
The fire dimmed as Kaizoku's hair began to fall back into its normal position. Her eyes were wide as she looked to Yusuke. "Wh-What did I-I just do?" she stammered. She looked down at her hands, glanced back at Yusuke briefly, then took off running.
Yusuke stared after her. "WHAT the HELL just happened!"
Sho Kansei
