Disclaimer. I do not, and never will, own Yu Yu Hakusho or any person from any other show/comic/story that appears in here. (Yes, I will put some cameos in this possibly. The disclaimer to the individual owners of said characters will be given credit at the beginning of the chapters.)
A/N: Thank you's to Black-Rose-Tsuki and Rosemage77 for reviewing. Sorry about the delay, school's been a bitch, damn projects, that and writer's block. I was stuck on the same thing for days. Also, my computer has been royally fucking up. Still can't access the internet so I have to post from the library. :grumbles: Let me know if you think I should raise the rating, I think it might just be a tad too low. Who knows:rolls eyes:To hell with that, just read the damn fic!
WARNING: This chapter contains violence and swearing. All those offended by either of those things can leave. These themes will be continued in the following chapters.
Last time on First Impressions Can Be Changed:
'How did you get out of the past arrangements onna?' came Hiei's voice in her head.
'Simple, my mother threatened him until he made a fuss about the dowry wanted being too high. He succeeded about three times unfortunately. Those poor bastards. . .'
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'You hinted at them dying, how did this come to pass?' Hiei said in her head.
'Close your eyes and I'll show you.' She said into his mind. He reluctantly complied and a barrage of images attacked his mind.
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Ch. 3
The inside of his eyelids disappeared and was replaced with a memory. He looked around and saw a grotesquely large demon looking predatorily at a younger-looking Tsukiko in a deep red kimono. The purple haired girl didn't seem to realize he was there and continued glaring at the demon in front of her. He looked at his surroundings again. It appeared that he was in someone's entry hall, there was a large door at the end of the hallway, not more than five meters to his right. Seeing nobody else, he returned to watching the scene at hand.
"Come on sweetheart, you know this needs to be done." The demon said lewdly.
"One, I am not your fucking sweetheart, if you want a quick fuck you can go to those whores down the road, I'm sure they'll be glad to screw you. Two, nothing needs to be done. I don't want to be here, and thus I won't stay. Good bye." Tsukiko said scornfully.
"Pitiful isn't it Hiei? So naïve to what is to come. . .I would almost pity him if he hadn't tried to rape me." Said a voice from behind Hiei. It was Tsukiko, looking exactly how she did in Koenma's office with the exception of the look of absolute disgust on her face as she gazed at the demon. "These are my memories Hiei. He was my first husband, the first fool to make the mistake of not wanting a large dowry. My stepfather is quite shrewd when it comes to money. This took place on the night of our betrothal." She laughed sadly, face still contorted in a frown.
"So, we can't do anything other than watch?" he asked, knowing the answer.
"Exactly." She said, nodding.
The scene in front of them resumed as the memory-Tsukiko turned on her heel and headed to the door. The demon, sill grinning lewdly, followed her and grabbed her ass as she walked. Memory-Tsukiko turned and slapped the demon with a force to rival even Keiko's slaps. She drew a pair of katanas she had hidden in the long sleeves of her kimono. Holding them expertly, she faced the demon with the handprint across his face.
"I see you still think that I'm some brainless child. For your information, I'm not. I am probably older than you by centuries, possibly millennia, so I suggest you stop pissing me off before you lose your life." Memory-Tsukiko said coldly.
"Like a little girl like you could do that." The demon said confidently.
Memory-Tsukiko sighed and readied her katanas. She charged the demon in front of her and quickly cut his chest open to the ribcage in a perfect "X" formation. Blood blossomed out of the wound and dripped onto the floor. The deep crimson substance splattered onto her face as her eyes shone with bloodlust. She laughed lightly, enjoying the to-be bloodbath, and charged again. This time she was blocked but that didn't keep her katanas from digging into flesh, separating it from the bone. She looked at the demon contemptuously as he bleed, barely standing upright, and breathing hard. A sweat had barely broken out across Memory-Tsukiko's forehead.
"You aren't giving up now are you?" She asked incredulously. "I still have to have my fun."
"F-f-fuck . . . y-y-you . . . b-b-bitch." The demon gasped out, attempting to hurt her emotionally. That just made her smile widen and her eyes glint.
"I think not. Now, I think I have better stuff to do than to listen to you throw pathetic insults at me." She said scornfully, spitting upon his face as she landed a roundhouse kick on his stomach. The force of the kick pushed him back almost three meters and he landed on his back, twitching. Grinning wildly as she walked over, she laughed at his twitching form shrinking away from her. She took one katana and slammed it through his groin as the other was being pressed against his jugular. "Goodbye, maybe I'll see you in hell." With that final statement, she flicked her wrist and the katana at his throat left a line that was creating quite a puddle around his body. Tsukiko grabbed a fistful of the demon's shirt and began wiping her katanas off, humming merrily to herself as she avoided stepping in the collecting pools of sticky crimson liquid as she went to find a servant to inform about the 'master's' death.
Hiei watched the scene with horror in his eyes that wasn't reflected in his expression. He had been under the impression that Tsukiko was an innocent girl, much like his own sister. He was surprised to find that she had probably more horror in her past than he did. "So, you killed him? That's how you got out of marriage?"
"Yes. Considering that I was new at the whole revenge thing, I had yet to learn to draw out the death of my enemy. I think that was one of my more merciful killings of my now ex-husbands. Let's go. The others are bound to be wondering what's going on." Tsukiko said, turning her back on the already fading room. His eyelids returned and he opened them. The other Tantei were staring at him.
"What?" He snapped at them, confused as to why they looked as though he had just grown another head.
"You . . . you . . . you were . . ." Yusuke tried to say, clutching his side from laughing.
"You were shuddering and twitching, that's what you were doing." Kurama said.
"My memories are not pleasant places to dwell. He saw something I doubt any of you, with possible exception of Kurama, would be able to stomach," came Tsukiko's voice from behind Koenma's desk. "Witnessing a bloodbath is never pleasant without proper emotion behind it. I am afraid none of you will be seeing what he saw as that would take too much explanation."
"Word to the incompetent, don't piss her off." Hiei's voice came as he gathered his wits. The form of the twitching demon still fresh in his mind as was the look of bloodlust in her blackish-purple eyes. He was not going to be the next to piss her off.
"Why?" asked Yusuke.
"It would get too bloody." Tsukiko said calmly, answering Yusuke's question for Hiei.
"Bloody? How so?" Kurama asked.
"Let's just say that I'm rather good at working with various bladed weapons." She said, taking the hidden knife out and twirling it expertly. Lazily she threw it at Yusuke who didn't notice it until it was embedded in the wall next to his head. "And that's when I'm not trying to hit you. Shall we finish? Kurama, you and Yusuke both have two more questions left, Kuwabara and Hiei, you both have three left. Yes, those questions did count. I didn't specify what type of questions they had to be did I?" Tsukiko grinned slyly at the gaping Yusuke and puzzled Kurama.
"Who's your mother?" Kuwabara asked.
"Suzume Kurasawa. The granddaughter of the Shadow and Illusion gods of old. She is technically half demon, but the blood of the Shadow and Illusion gods lost its potency in the previous generation. She is half shadow demon and half shape shifter. She is the only one who has the right to boss me around. Others do, but that is only because I feel as though I am too old to care as to what they think." Tsukiko said wearily, the memory transfusion showing its toll on her mind. "Hiei, I believe that it is your turn."
"Hn, I'll save my questions for later." 'When I actually need them onna.' he said.
"Fine, you do that. Yusuke, your turn." Tsukiko snapped, her wits finally regained in their entirety.
Yusuke grinned slyly, "You're a shape shifter so how different can you make yourself?"
"Would you like a demonstration?" Tsukiko asked dryly, watching Yusuke nod vigorously. "Fine. Step away from the wall, middle of the room would be best, and close your eyes." Yusuke stared at her for a second and then, remembering the knife that had lodged itself in the wall, complied. He could tell someone was looking him over, as if he was a thoroughbred racehorse for sale, and walking in circles around him. A slight wind blew past him and then his own voice told him to open his eyes. When he did, he was face to face with himself. He only realized that he was not looking in a mirror when he got to the copy's blackish purple eyes. "Like what you see?" The copy asked.
"Umm . . . who are you and what did you do with Tsukiko?" Yusuke asked, making Kurama and Kuwabara laugh.
"Baka that is the onna. She transformed into you." Hiei said, pointing out why the other two were laughing.
"Umm . . . to what extent?" Yusuke asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"I can change my gender if that's what you're asking. Not permanently though, I couldn't stay this way for too long, I like who I am normally. And by the way, you got one extra question. You will need to answer one of my questions later." Yusuke-Tsukiko said as a wind blew past the group once again and a normal looking Tsukiko was standing where the Yusuke copy had been only seconds before, laughing mildly at Yusuke's bewilderment. "It's your question, Kuwabara."
"Um . . . Can you change into animals?" he asked. Tsukiko nodded and the wind blew again, her figure distorting and going out of focus. When the tumult died down, there was a tiger kitten in place of Tsukiko. Kuwabara kneeled down to pet it but before his hand got near its head, it smacked him away, hissing. Kuwabara was left nursing four deep scratches on his hand.
"I don't think she likes being touched Kuwabara." said Kurama, laughing lightly at the boy's ignorance of Tsukiko's personality.
"No shit Sherlock," said Yusuke dryly, eyeing the cat suspiciously. The wind picked up again and Tsukiko was standing there, glaring at Kuwabara.
"I loathe unwanted physical contact. I would suggest you don't try that again if you value your life," she said coldly. Kuwabara nodded meekly, as Kurama grinned, Yusuke laughed, and Hiei smirked.
"Not only that, but she doesn't have a probation and a threat of spirit prison hanging over her head to keep her from killing you." Kurama added, stating the obvious as Tsukiko's gaze turned to him. "Uh, my turn, right. Erm . . ." Kurama stalled, thinking of a question to ask. "Erm . . . erm . . . uhm . . ."
"If you're not going to ask me anything, than I suggest you just say so."
"Heh. Fine, um, when was the last time you were in the reikai?" Kurama asked, shrugging.
"Uh, probably about five hundred years ago. I don't know," she shrugged, "blame the munchkin." Hiei raised an eyebrow, Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed, and Kurama grinned.
'What's a munchkin?' Hiei asked, confused.
Tsukiko grinned, 'A very short person, typically looking like a large toddler. In other words, someone who looks remotely like my brother. The term comes from a movie that came out about .' Hiei smirked. 'And, so you know, that does count as a question. I want to get this damned "game" over with as soon as possible.'
'Hn.'
"Kuwabara, it's your question now. You better hurry this up."
"Okay," he said tentatively, remembering his last experience getting her pissed off. "What fighting style do you use?"
"I'll answer that when I spar with all of you. You will see . . . eventually. Ask again, Hiei seems to not want to ask me things now."
"Ehh . . . have you ever stayed in the human world for over a year?"
She scowled at his question, "Naturally, I spend two years in one place then I move on to another place. I don't like to spend more time than necessary there though, humans bug me."
'You have two questions left, do you want to ask them now or wait for later?' Hiei heard her voice in his mind.
'As I said before onna, I'm saving my questions for later.'
"That concludes our round of twenty questions. Now for me to ask Yusuke the question he owes me," an evil grin spread across her face as she turned to face the boy in question, "You must answer me truthfully Yusuke. What is Keiko to you? Is she a friend or is she more than that?"
Yusuke blushed and muttered something under his breath.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you." Tsukiko said, a grin still plastered across her face.
"I said, she's my girlfriend," Yusuke managed through clenched teeth, glaring daggers at Tsukiko's grinning face. Kuwabara started to guffaw at Yusuke's misery as the door was flung open by the small Reikai Prince. "Saved by the toddler, who would have thought," was heard coming from the blushing detective.
"Dad wants to talk to you now, he has the time apparently," said the oblivious prince to the still grinning violet haired youkai. She slid off from her position on the desk and stumbled over to the door. Her feet had fallen asleep during the questioning and her mind was still on Yusuke's reaction to her question.
"I'll let you people know what the decision is when I return. Ta." She sauntered out of the room, confident with her ability to manipulate her father. As the door closed, Yusuke was heard telling Kuwabara to stuff it and Kurama was heard snickering. (A/N: Is that likely? Does Kurama snicker at other's misfortunes? Would he snicker at Yusuke's?)
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"It's been almost three hours since they left. When are they coming back," whined Kuwabara as he slunk lower in his chair.
"It's only been twenty minutes baka," growled Hiei who was massaging his temples. Kuwabara's whining had given all of them a headache of varying degrees.
"What did you call me shrimp," yelled Kuwabara, suddenly appearing in front of Hiei.
"You heard me baka, now quit your whining. It's not doing any of us any good."
"Will you both shut up? I've been standing here for the past minute and the four of you still have yet to realize it," came a new voice from the doorway. The arguing pair looked up and saw Tsukiko, her feelings hidden behind a mask.
"So, can you stay or are you being forced to go back to your home?" Kurama asked politely, seeing that nobody was going to say anything.
"He said that I . . ."
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A/N: I know, I'm evil. Get over it. If the turnout isn't predictable then that's just sad. Please review, you know, click the little box down there in the corner.
Next time on First Impressions Can Be Changed:
We find out what King Enma decided would be his daughter's future. (that sounds pretty lame doesn't it?) And we watch the newcomer spar with the Tantei. What insane fun.
Tsukiko: yeah . . . fun. (sarcastic)
Me: Oh, be nice.
Tsukiko: Why should I?
Me: Because I control you.
Tsukiko: Hm, good point.
Both: Bye!