Disclaimer: I dun own YYH. Please do not sue, as I am only writing this to test-drive my own character, Criss.

Chapter 7: Others

Jun sat right beside Kurama the next morning in Intro to Mathematics. JD and Criss had the class, too, but they had it in the afternoon. Kurama was already thinking how lucky they were to choose it at three in the afternoon, rather than nine in the morning.

"Morning, handsome," Jun said. Whether deliberately or on accident, her ankles brushed his. "I'm sorry about last night. I train alone. But I am willing to help in any way possible." Her thick, luscious lips pouted a little as she said this. The deep, rich red she'd chosen highlighted every delicate curve. Her creamy coffee skin smelled of fresh cut flowers and her hair of vanilla beans.

Her leg touched his again.

"I-It's all right," Kurama said.

Are you getting weak, Shuichi? She's spicy, sassy, and sexy. Can we please seduce her before she does us herself?

I said no. Jun won't do that, Youko. She is a human being.

Says the man who is barely a man.

Shuichi didn't have anything to say to this, mostly because a frazzle-haired professor entered the room. He had a shock of white hair, eyes so small they seemed closed under his bushy white brows, and wore a French beret tilted to one side. It didn't seem to help his hair become tame at all, which seemed to him to be the purpose of the hat.

"Goot morning, class. Get out a piece of paper and take notes over lecture," he said with a very, very heavy German accent. Kurama obeyed, his hand brushing against Jun's as he reached for his bag next to hers.

You're flirting, Shuichi!

I am not. Our hands touched.

That's considered flirting. You poor, poor little human…

We are not going to seduce her, Youko. That is final. What would mother say if we did such a thing?

Shuichi knew he'd hit the right spot. Youko was grateful to Shiori, their mother, for everything she'd done for him. This included teaching him a thing or two about affection. The lessons were still a little bit undernourished, however, as Youko was still trying to sway the youth whose body he shared.

Math class seemed to drag. Kurama found himself counting the number of students in the room (32), all of whom had a dazed, glazed, and utterly bored look upon their face. Even Jun, who had been paying quite rapt attention at first, was starting to drift to sleep. It wasn't until Kurama started looking around that he noticed that he was in what looked roughly the same type of classroom as the English class. When the fifty minutes had finally come to an end, the professor had homework. Kurama wrote it down immediately in his notebook before heading out.

His next class was Drawing I, and Jun and Criss both were in the class. The tables were set up in fours, but their fourth partner took one look at them and walked out. They found out the day after that she dropped the class.

The teacher was going through the more normal (as opposed to the math teacher) day one procedure of syllabus, read it over, and introductions. Kurama was barely paying any attention at all, which was incredibly out of character for him. He was surprising even himself. Youko found it quite amusing.

As classes continued and everyone started to sink into the routine of daily life on campus, Jun began to act more and more strange. In the halls, if no one was around, she'd a chaste kiss on his cheek. Just enough that he felt it. For some reason, however, she always gave him a meaningful look. The kind of look that said "we need to talk". Kurama wasn't certain exactly what to make of this. Jun's actions were almost opposite of themselves, as she seemed to openly flirt with him in the classroom.

And especially in their dorm rooms.

"Just ask her to stop," JD said to him when she left after one such episode. He'd told him about the kisses. "It's sexual harassment. I dunno what is up with that kinda stuff in your country, but around here, it's considered punishable by law."

Kurama nodded. The next time Jun approached him, he held up his hand.

"No, Jun."

She pouted up at him. The look was still there, though. "Sure, baby, whatever you say."

But the kisses continued, even though he continually asked her not to. Youko, the one who always seemed to know everything, was baffled. The way Jun acted in the classroom and in the dorms was sensual and open. When they were alone in the halls, she was almost pleading with him to do something. Kurama knew this something was not sex, however she might veil it to seem that way.

The weekend was upon them at last. Kurama told Criss, Jun, and JD that his friends were coming to visit. He said in a whisper that they were coming via portal, but out loud he said that they had found really good round-trip tickets for a group of their size. He found out from Criss, who seemed a little down, that there were guest houses for such occasions, which cost five dollars a bed a night.

Criss had almost seemed out of it for the first few days. Saturday morning, after she knocked on the plywood, she poked her head in through. Kurama had noticed that Jun was never in the room when she used the large hole.

"We need to take them somewhere nice," she said without preamble. "It's America, for crying out loud. How many of them have ever seen this place before? And I'm sure those buddies of yours are big eaters. I think you're about the only exception to the male-eating rule I've ever come across."

"What do you suggest?" Kurama asked.

"I've been thinking… There's a great little shop near here, called League of Its Own. It serves all kinds of food with blendings of all kinds of cultures. Cheap, too. Most expensive thing on the menu's five bucks."

"For this crowd, those two combinations sound wonderful," Kurama said. "I'll find JD, you find Jun. We'll go together, all of us." A look crossed her face, but it vanished before Kurama could try to decipher it.

"Sure thing. I'll meet you down there. If they left at five in the morning, they ought to be here at three, about. I'm going to see if I can borrow one of the school vans. How many are coming again?"

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Yukina, Botan, and Keiko. Six from there. And us four, makes ten."

"Then we should have enough room between my car and JD's. Nix the van. He's got a Malibu, which can seat bigger people…"

"Okay. You get Hiei, Botan, Keiko, and me, then," Kurama said. "I'm sure JD can handle Yusuke and Kuwabara."

And, at three in the afternoon, six people piled off a bus in the Jefferson parking lot. Kurama introduced them each individually.

"Yusuke Urameshi, our unofficial team leader back in Japan."

"Oi."

"Why'd he say that?" JD asked.

Criss laughed. "It's Japanese, JD. It means 'hey'."

"Oh. Well, 'oi' back to you, too."

Yusuke glanced at Kurama, who merely continued on to Kuwabara.

"Kuwabara Kazuma, watash—"

Yusuke fired something at him in rapid Japanese, which Criss didn't quite catch. The two started arguing off in the background. Kurama chuckled softly and simply continued on again. Criss got the feeling that this was a normal occurrence and left it at that.

"This is Keiko, Botan, and Yukina," he said, pointing at each of the girls.

"Hi!" Botan cried in an overly-happy voice. She continued on in rapid Japanese.

"Even I can't translate that," Kurama said at the looks JD, Jun, and Criss were giving him. "Botan…" She giggled and nodded, but remained silent thereafter.

"And this is Hiei," Kurama said, gesturing to the small boy. "He's very famous for being one of the few people ever to conquer the Dragon of the Darkness Flame at the Dark Tournament."

Kurama then ordered everyone, in Japanese, into the little blue Geo Prizm of Criss's and JD's bright red Malibu. Hiei nearly started to jump through the trees instead, but Kurama stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"There are no more trees after about a mile from here and where we're going is a lot farther than a mile, Hiei," Kurama explained in Japanese. "This area was originally all grassland. These trees were planted. People watch them all the time."

Hiei grunted and glared at the hunk of metal in which he would have to ride.

Unfortunately, he had to squeeze in between Keiko and Botan in the child's seat, as he was the smallest and could easily fit there. Kurama sat up front next to Criss, who started the car up and led the way out of the parking lot.

"I can see a lot better during the day, so it's okay for us to talk, Kurama," Criss said. "I heard a lot about you, Mr. Hiei. Can you tell me more about this Dragon I keep hearing about? I like dragons."

"He can't understand you," Kurama said, trying not to laugh. "He barely learned Japanese when he escaped the demon world. The only thing he understood is his name."

"Oh…" Criss nodded. Then, she began to speak very slow, very concise Japanese. "I am sorry for my ignorance, Mr. Hiei. I did not know you did not speak English. I speak little Japanese."

Both Botan and Keiko exchanged a glance, then looked at Hiei. He was watching the ningen in the driver's seat very closely. A little too closely.

"I was wondering about the Dragon Shuichi told me about," she said, still speaking slow Japanese. "He said you used it to win the Dark Tournament four years ago." In her head, she made a mental note to remember to ask Shuichi was the Dark Tournament was.

Hiei grunted. "Yes. Why are you so interested in it, human?"

"I am part wolf, on my father's side," Criss continued slowly. Kurama's head jerked at this information. "My great-great-grandfather used a spirit beast similar to your Dragon for war. He helped many Native American tribes live longer in their native homes, before Europeans forced them out."

"Why didn't you tell me that?" Kurama asked in English.

Criss smiled sadly. "I forgot about it until now. Hiei looks a lot like my dad when he dyed his hair black. It must have triggered the memory."

Kurama had all but forgotten Criss's little memory problem. He wondered just how much of her own life she actually did remember.

Suddenly, Hiei's voice filled the tiny car. "Was his name Justin Nallen?"

"Y-yes, that was his name."

"I knew him, then. He was a bandit in the Makai."

Criss smiled. For some reason, Kurama smiled with her. It seemed like it was for real, this one. She was genuinely happy to have some connection to her father, even as remote as this one. Kurama glanced back out the window. JD's Malibu was two seconds behind them exactly. Not a moment later, Criss took an exit.

All around, there was nothing but fields and cows and a single large building. A huge sign read A League of Its Own. Criss pulled into a parking spot and JD's Malibu soon followed. When Criss was out of the car, JD ran over to her and jumped into her arms like a small child might.

"Um…JD, what are you doing?"

"Next time, you drive them!" he cried. "They're nuts and I can't even understand a word they're saying!"

Kurama and Criss laughed as the poor boy slowly let himself down. He apologized sheepishly to Criss. She smirked and led the way inside, with both an English and a Japanese "come on in".

…

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sillylittlenothing: I'm not going to hit you… You're one of my favorite reviewers, why would I do that? No, this story won't be ending for a while. But I've already got it drafted and written down someplace else. Believe me, I have few brain cells right now, too. I totally forgot my speech, which means I have to ace my final and my persuasive speech in order to B the class…

SugarhighKitsune: I will keep that in mind, I was trying to build the story up from a mellow start to a lot of little twists. I hope it appeals to you as much as my mind enjoying concocting it.

I really liked this chapter even though its only purpose was to introduce Jun's strange behavior (important) and the introduction of the other characters and the fact that Criss is part wolf. Not like super-powerful wolf, like, maybe a sixteenth? Maybe?

Oh, and the League of Its Own. I liked the title of the restaurant. Dunno why. (shrugs) See ya'll soon!