Chapter 11: Dragon and Cat
Criss gaped open-mouthed at Genkai's temple, at a lost for words. She couldn't believe she would be living here for a week. It was like a dream come true. Every sloped roof, every hall, every rice paper door, it was a splendid place. When Criss was introduced formally to the pink-gray haired Genkai, she bowed with deepest respect. JD practically threw himself at the old lady's feet when she stared at him. Genkai laughed uproariously and Kurama tried to suppress a chuckle.
Genkai spoke in a raspy, sarcastic voice. "And this is the genius you found, Kurama?"
"What'd she say?" JD whined.
"Nothing at all," Criss said. "She's just…welcoming you." She spoke in Japanese to the woman. "Do not worry about him. Kurama and I will keep him in line."
Genkai laughed. "You must be Criss. At least Kurama found someone with a brain or two in their head. I believe you will be the second female on this little team. I hope you're up for the challenge. We start training at dawn. Kurama, you know where the guest rooms are."
"Sensei, hai," Kurama nodded. "Come on, guys."
"Don't forget. You promised you'd tell us about this Dark Tournament thing," Criss warned him. "I'll personally send electricity running through your spine if you do forget."
Kurama wasn't quite sure what she meant, but nodded all the same. He led the two college students through Genkai's many-chambered house, into a long stretch of hall that split off into five sliding rice paper doors. All of them were ornately painted with cherry or plum blossoms.
"We don't have much room, so we'll have to share one," Kurama explained delicately. "I hope that's all right with you, Criss."
She shrugged. She'd been in worse situations than sharing a bedroom with two men, both of whom she trusted.
The interior of the far left hand room was small, but there were three futons on the floor and a place for them to set their things down at the head of each one. And there was a bathroom inside the room, which made things a little simpler. Kurama decided that Criss would change in the bathroom and they would change in the room and tell her when they were through.
Criss followed the plan quite effectively. JD and Kurama were ready for bed when she asked, so they made up their beds and laid down. Criss had chosen the futon between the two boys. She turned to Kurama as soon as she was comfortable.
"Okay. Spill. What is the Dark Tournament?"
"It is a tournament for demons," Kurama answered. "We were guest competitors, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Genkai, and myself, four years ago. It is a no-holds-bound battle for the top place. If you die, your death is not mourned but celebrated. We five are lucky to have escaped with our lives. Genkai actually didn't but as we won the tournament, we were able to win her back."
"Win her back?" JD inquired.
"Yes. The winners get to make a wish each. That was our greatest common wish. That, and to never have to compete in the tournament again."
Criss scowled and spoke sarcastically. "Sounds like fun. Glad you guys made it through okay. What made you enter in the first place?"
Kurama smiled. "That would be one of the former winners of the tournament, Toguro the Younger. He felt he needed to find the person who could match his power. Yusuke turned out to be that person. It's a little more complicated, but I don't want to go into the details."
"What about you?" Criss asked
"Hmm?"
"Every time you mention the tournament, your eyes get really lost, like you're remembering something horrid. We've all got a dirty past somewhere, Shuichi. What's yours?"
"Nothing to be so concerned about," Kurama chuckled cynically. "A man named Karasu decided I had a pretty face and wanted to kill me because of it. He put a new meaning of the word masochist."
Criss nodded. "I'd say so. Well, g'night, boys. I'm exhausted."
With that pronouncement, she curled up beneath the thick blankets, hugging the pillow. Like a small puppy on a giant pillow, she fell asleep in minutes. They could hear her slow, even breaths. Kurama and JD shrugged and followed her more slowly into dreamland.
…
The next morning, when the sun had barely even begun to peek out over the horizon, Kurama shook his fellows awake. Criss jumped immediately to her feet, grabbing some clothes from her bag and entering the bathroom. Kurama shook his head, shocked at how quickly she'd managed to wake up. JD, on the other hand, took quite a bit of coaxing to get him up. By the time Criss had come out of the bathroom, rubbing her wet hair with a fluffy towel, he still hadn't budged.
"Go ahead and get your shower, Shuichi," Criss said. She still hadn't gotten used to Kurama as his name. "I'll get JD up."
When Kurama came back out of the shower, his red locks still damp, JD soared past him into the shower. Kurama wasn't quite sure what Criss had done to the boy, but for the next few weeks or so, JD had no problem at all getting out of bed.
"We only have a week to train with Genkai," Kurama said, leading them toward the kitchen. The wonderful smell of pancakes wafted toward them. "She's going to show us ways to maximize our energy output. Criss, do you mind helping me translate for JD?"
"No problem," she shrugged.
Genkai, however, seemed more inclined on giving them one technique a day for them to practice. She left most of the actual training to Kurama, which she explained to him in low voices. Despite the fact that she did this, Criss still picked up most of what she was telling Kurama. Once breakfast was over, Criss and JD followed Kurama out onto what seemed to be an ancient battlefield. Criss could sense restless spirits all over the place, even within some of the muddy quicksand.
"I believe that this was one of the places that Yusuke went while he was attempting to become Genkai's apprentice four years ago," Kurama said. "The presence of ghosts here maximizes the connection between spiritual and physical entities."
Kurama then began to show them some of the ninjitsu kata he'd been told of by Genkai. To the elder woman, the two human psychics would be best trained in some of the more traditional human powers that were best known to them. He showed them a cycle of monkey, dragon, fox, cat, wolf, and tiger movements, which enhanced the spirit and relaxed their muscles. It was sort of like a warm-up for the spirit.
JD was in fact a very quick learner when it came to this sort of thing. He continued through the cycle seamlessly, his feet planted firmly. Criss, however, was having more trouble with the dragon and the cat movements.
"Dang it…Dad never mentioned any stupid hand thingies…" Criss muttered, her shoulders slumped. So much for "catching up" with Kurama. Although Criss had studied much under her father, she still had a lot to learn.
"Hey, Kurama, I'm going back to that training hall we saw earlier and see if I can do it without these spirits around," JD said. "You keep working with Criss."
Criss sighed and sank onto the grass. "I'm never going to get this right. Maybe I should just stick to drawing comic books."
Kurama scowled and grabbed her by the elbow, yanking her roughly to her feet. "Hey! Shuichi, that hurts!"
"That is not the attitude I expect from you at all," he said. "Your father was a great man. He knew that you had something special inside, and he knew that you would need it some day. If you are to avenge him, you must continue your training."
"But what does making my hands look like a dragon and a cat have to do with anything?"
Kurama scowled. "Do the dragon, alone."
She moved her hands together as she would if she were doing the dragon kata. He punched toward her, but the dragon's hand blocked it almost effortlessly.
"The cat," he said.
She moved her hands again. This time, she prevented him from striking her and allowed him to leave himself vulnerable to attack.
Criss just sort of stood there, paralyzed as she held her hands to block his. Something just clicked in her mind as he backed away again.
"Move through the kata."
She obeyed him, simple as that. Monkey, dragon, fox, cat—
"Freeze." She did.
Kurama moved around behind her and took her right leg in his hands. He moved them apart, facing both of her feet forward as he did. Then, he reached around to her arms and fixed several of her fingers so that they mimicked the perfect cat movement.
"Try it again," Kurama said. His breath tickled her ear, but she did as she was told. His voice frightened her. It was…intimidating.
Monkey, dragon, fox, cat, wolf, tiger, monkey, dragon, fox, cat, wolf, tiger, monkey dragon fox wolf tiger, monkey.dragon.fox.wolf.tiger, monkeydragonfoxwolftiger.
"You see. You can do it." Kurama backed away from her, dropping his arms to his side.
"I-It's so simple…natural, even," Criss said, turning to look at Kurama. A smile lit her features, something that he hadn't seen for many months. Maybe never had seen from her at all. "Thanks, Kurama."
He smiled back. "Come on, let's go see what JD is up to. Maybe a spar is in order now."
…
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Okay. Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to "Genkai Torture Hour". I decided against it, mostly because this is only one week. Plus, Criss and JD need some of those ancient hand movements for later.
Everqueen: I'm glad to hear that you like my characters. Seeming how they're both being "test driven" for an original novel, it's nice to know they already are prepared to enter into the world that I created for them. I know how irritating most OCs are…It's only cause people don't take the time to create their own characters. I did. JD and Criss both have "character bibles", which tell their stories right down (mostly) to how many times they fell off their bikes as kids. Jun was kinda just thrown in there…she has her purpose, though. She just doesn't have the pleasure of being expanded on much more than I have.
Sillylittlenothing: Sorry to disappoint…;; Oh, yeah, Criss has been training like mad. She's cocky only cause she's used to winning battles. If you remember…she's never been beaten before. All on her own, yeah. Japan is way ahead of us, unfortunately for my little brother…;;
LaBOBuren: FRUBA! My anime club watched over half the series. One of the girls was buying every DVD as it came out. But I didn't get over half of it cause we watched it all in Japanese with subtitles and I couldn't read it…VV. I like Yuki. I don't get the girl, though. Why'd she sleep in a tent? I'm in college, majoring in Secondary Education, English. An ickle freshie, that's me.