Quote of the week: " If there is one thing I don't want you doing today, it is going home and telling your parents you learned that President Lincoln smoked pot." - Mr.Simendinger
Has anyone ever played the game "Zap!" ? It's just one of those little school kid lunch-break games, but if you don't know how it works you probably won't get the little joke behind Embyr's revenge.
Ah, whatever. I'll write down the rules to it at the end of the chapter, just not to spoil the joke. Have fun reading, folks.
Lunch break. Embyr hadn't even wanted to go to class this Thursday, hadn't cared whether missing even one day would make her grades - namely in Latin class - plummet due to the crappy scheduling of her classes.
After all, who had ever heard of being stuck in a class about Latin verbs for three hours?
And lunch hadn't appealed to her, either. Yes, she was hungry, but not nearly hungry enough to go into the cafeteria, which was where Victoria was sticking to his/her shift of lunch monitor duty. She hadn't wanted to run to the dorm and fix herself lunch, as well.
So, having nothing much to do, the fox girl found herself a quiet spot along the oak-lined pathways to lean against a tree and read; the location was perfect for the occasion: close to her classes, but just far enough off the brick pathways so people wouldn't bother talking to her. Daffodils and tulips swayed on their stalks, flourishing in the flowerbed that rose up out of the ground twenty feet in front of her. If anything, she would've loved to just doze off and go back to the dorm before the final bell rang.
"Why aren't you in class?" The familiar voice asked, making the kitsune stick a finger between the pages (god forbid she have to search for her spot, afterwards) and attempt to peek around the thick tree trunk.
"It's lunch, Ayame."
"I know that," he said, settling down next to her. "But why aren't you off doing some extra credit, or whatever it is you usually do?" If she hadn't already been returning to her book, his unusual conversational mood might have startled her. When she continued to ignore him, the demon leaned against the tree and observed the tiny buds that sprouted from twigs.
"I hate the class I have today."
"Hm?" Ever since meeting the fox-girl in November, Ayame had never heard her claim that she hated any class. Now, as he shifted his red-eyed gaze to her, he noticed how she had put her bookmark in place and was already in the middle of shoving the book into her bag.
"I have to go, anyways," Embyr continued, getting up and stretching her legs. She felt a bit more subconscious than usual; having another person just stare at you as blankly as Ayame did had that sort of effect. That blank look was all the motivation she needed to leave. She had never been too fond of Ayame, to begin with, even if he had usually been the one who frightened Prudence away.
The orange-haired demon merely grunted and crossed his arms, readying himself for a nap. "Just stay out of trouble."
She readjusted her bag strap, glowering at Ayame before muttering, "Thanks."
Even as she walked away, both of them knew that it was too much to ask for.
In the cafeteria, crowded as usual, student mingled. In fact, Kurama noticed, they were mingling quite a bit more than was normal. Throughout the day, a large of number of female students had been following him, giggling whenever he looked at them. Even Lark was acting a bit more giddy than usual, sneaking amused smirks at him whenever the fox came anywhere near Lyra.
It was only when Helen, who had come over to talk (despite the annoyed expressions from everyone else at the table), gave him a little red box with a purple bow, that something finally dawned on Kurama. While the blonde gabbed on with the small talk, the fox discreetly pulled his student planner from his bag and flipped through its pages.
February fourteenth... Ah, so that was it, he thought, the fact not really registering in his mind until he undid the bow and a chocolate heart beamed happily from the red confines of its box. Slowly, his face took on an unusual expression: eyes blank and staring off into space, the rest of his features fading, just like the blood from his face, into an impenetrable mask devoid of thought.
"What's wrong, Kurama-kun? Do you not like dark chocolate?"
February fourteenth. Valentine's day. And he had been caught unawares.
Those seated around him - Yusuke, Justin, Lyonell, Kuwabara, Holly, Lark, and Chrysanthemum - finally saw a sight they never would have they'd see: a completely surprised Kurama.
Plainly put, the fox was doomed.
Meanwhile...
The rock cliff, impossibly high, rose up above him. Seagulls, as if taunting him, swooped down low to scoop up shiners and striper bass fingerlings, only to glide on outstretched wings to alight on the top of the cliff walls.
He was jealous of seagulls, the scum of the seas and skies... something was definitely wrong.
But even those filthy scavengers had gotten more attention than he, lately. From underneath the gently pulsing water, he growled, streams of bubbles escaping to pop on the surface of the water. Silently, he slipped below a respectable-sized school of striper fingerlings and let some air escape from his lungs, using his whip-like whiskers to thrash the large pockets of air into curtains of tiny bubbles; as the baby fish were driven towards the surface, his keen eyes picked up on the ever-growing shadows.
As soon as the first dozen gulls landed on the surface of the sea, their webbed feet kicking as they snapped for the frenzied fingerlings, he launched his attack.
The green sea only served to disguise the iridescence of his dorsal fin, his third eyelids protecting all four of his eyes as he snaked up from the depths and broke through the water. Sunlight glistened off his wet fur, and the gulls scattered in all directions, even as he snapped two or three seagulls diving in for a meal in midair.
As quickly as he had appeared, this sea rat of gull-eating vengeance, he was gone below the waters, the submerging tip of his long whiskers leaving twin ripples on the surface.
All in all, it had been a good meal, but didn't satisfy what he had been hungering for. And there was only one remedy for that.
"Eeee, I'm not gonna make it!"
Embyr nearly ran though the halls, hoping to perhaps reach her class before the next period bell rung. Only forty-five seconds until class... forty... thirty-five... As she sprinted up the staircase, wincing at the jarring sensation her feet suffered with each step (she figured that maybe she could have left her free-reading book in her locker or at the dorm, it was far heavier than her algebra textbook), she kept her eyes glued to her wristwatch.
In retrospect, she decided that if she, in fact, had bothered to look ahead of her, she wouldn't have collided with Yusuke, who had been in a rush downstairs to skip his next class before the bell rang.
The fox girl went tumbling head over tail down the stairs, her textbooks tumbling alongside her like boulders in an Indiana Jones movie.
Yusuke caught himself on the banister, muttering curses under his breath. He hadn't hurt the kid, had he? No, she was still moving, down on the third floor landing. Taking the steps down three at a time, the Japanese teen started grabbing her books and dropping them in a more-or-less pile by her bag, then bent down to help Embyr up to her feet.
"Eh, Urameshi, is that you?" A rather unusual-looking boy, sporting a garish Mohawk and with every inch of his long, tapered ears pierced, leaned over the railing to address the Spirit Detective. Yusuke froze, staring his classmate square in the eye, letting go of Embyr's hand (letting her fall to the ground) and turning tail, just as the bell rang.
Embyr, now sprawled on the ground, with her things strewn about her, could only stare at the retreating back of her temporary roommate. Then, everything seemed to tie together for her; the missed bell, the crappy morning classes, the dreaded afternoon classes, being shoved down a stairwell by a guy much larger than her, and then left to fend for her own in said stairwell, just when a stampede of students was on its way it. All of that clicked and fit together so well, like a puzzle, that she couldn't stop herself from pulling the marked slip of paper from out of her bag (which had been dumped at her side). Slicing the paper across her thumb so the blood oozed across the printed symbols in a straight line, the fox girl narrowed her eyes and growled out the proper segments of the Buddhist prayer, then tossed the paper into the air.
The seemingly helpless charm floated down to the earth gently, then suddenly folded up and into itself to form a tiny paper airplane; without the aid of a breeze, the paper plane zoomed down the stairs, a ki-sensing bomb in it's own right.
Up above, the poor student merely watched the violent display of charm-working, and thought it safer to merely move along to class and hope she never noticed he'd been there to begin with instead of helping the poor girl out.
It sailed between the stairway banisters, swooping and veering just out of the way of the various students that crowded the halls. Even as the paperbound curse-in-the-making floated just above the outstretched fingers of a curious student hoping to catch the self-propelled paper plane, it was already closing in on the one and only Yusuke Urameshi. Forcing his way through the crowd had slowed him down considerably, and it didn't take much for the paper charm to glue itself to his hand as he reached out to open the building doors.
So caught up in his own escape, he didn't even notice the slight tingling sensation on the back of his hand, or when the blood-stained paper had fallen away, leaving a single word inscribed upon his skin. A harmless enough three-letter-word that would soon prove the bane of his existence.
'Zap!' Read his skin.
Sullenly, he stared out the window at the tiny green buds that were just starting to grow. The trees would be in full bloom soon, in little less than a few weeks. Springtime was generally a social time of great importance, seeing as the bitter winter was nearing an end and the great outdoors was now hospitable.
Every spring, he had gotten nothing but a very severe case of hay fever.
This year, he had resolved to change that.
Frighteningly enough, They were in total agreement about it.
Go for it, man! Reel her in!
Hanabi-kun shouldn't have to. He's become a lot more sociable already this year.
...He's still a wuss.
You brat!
Nag!
Okay, so Their intentions for him to get outside and take advantage of the spring weather were in agreement -- not Them, specifically. So, what with three separate consciousnesses backing up the decision and all, Hanabi figured that his chances probably couldn't get any better.
Sighing, the white-haired boy looked out the window, then sighed again when he saw the familiar broomstick-shaped shadow flit across the courtyard. He didn't know her schedule exactly, but Hanabi knew that sometime around lunch the witch had an empty period smushed somewhere in between her classes.
Shikyo trailed off as the mid-period bell rung, and glared at the clock as if it were the spawn of all evil in the world. Perhaps the only person in the room who didn't shudder at his cold look was Chrysanthemum, who merely closed her slitted eyes and smiled; if he listened closely enough, Hanabi was certain he would be able to hear her purr.
Granted, if Shikyo had even bothered to hear this hypothetical purr (which wouldn't have been too hard, seeing as Chrys sat in the front row and those large cat ears weren't for decoration), he didn't show it, and instead stood up from the leaning position he had taken against the whiteboard. Turning his back to his students, the cat demon began to scribble down a writing prompt on the whiteboard and found that, no matter how hard or how many times he tried to write with the dry-erase marker, it was as dead as could be, then began to search his bare desk drawers for replacement markers.
While everyone stretched or just chatted, Hanabi noticed that now was as good a time as any to make a move on that goal of his. His break time coincided with Holly's free period, which the girl had decided to spend out of the classroom; quietly, he slipped out of the room -- not as if anyone bothered to pay attention to begin with.
Once outside, he grinned at the rush. Sure, it was technically a free ten minutes, and no one really cared if students were out of class during the current time, but it was also one step closer to skipping a class.
A sad victory, as was duly noted, but a victory nonetheless.
Feeling, in all its mighty force, the rush of springtime youth (and without the added drowsiness of anti-histamine medicine) Hanabi strode down the hallway, the metal swinging doors becoming larger with every step.
That's right! You can do this!
Yes, They were right... he could do this. There was nothing to it. He would just walk up to her and strike up a conversation, like on any other day, but gradually and meekly slip in the invitation to go out for a walk by the lake after classes.
Don't blow this. Whatever you do, just don't... don't screw up, okay?
"Screw up"? Why, he had no idea of the word. 'And', he convinced himself, as he brazenly grabbed the bouquet of daffodils from their plastic vase perched on the windowsill outside Erica's classroom, 'how could I possibly fail? It's only Holly!'
Only Holly. That realization made him come to a complete stop right then and there, his shoulder already shoved against the door to exit out into the bright sunlight. Only Holly...
The earlier rush from nearly-skipping-a-period-of-class-but-not-really faltered right there, as did his conviction. Turning around, despite Their protests, he made a beeline back for Shikyo's room -- but not before picking up the plastic vase and returning the daffodils, attempting to hide where his tight grip had bruised the hollow stalks.
Only Holly, on Valentine's day...
Oh well... he had never really like the whole "direct" approach, anyways.
She was practically giddy as she skipped down the hall, on the way to re-fill her water
bottle before the break-time bell rang. One or two students wandered the halls as well, rushing to and from the bathrooms before their ten minutes of free time were up. She almost stopped to chat with Hanabi on her way outside, but her classmate looked frazzled enough just trying to rearrange the damaged bouquet of cheery daffodils. So, with a quick wave (the movement out of the corner of his eye made Hanabi jump in surprise, and nearly topple over the vase again), she kicked open the doors to the breezy courtyard and squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight as she stepped out.
The courtyard grounds were recovering quickly from the harsh winter. Indeed, she'd had no idea exactly how "harsh" the winter had been, considering her months-long time jump, but for the sake of a descriptive sentence, the possibility of the winter being anything but cold skipped her mind. But, that was besides the point!
Lark unscrewed the cap from her bottle, holding the opening under the lip of the bubbler head. The water trickling slowly from the metal spigot, Lark hadn't much else to do but look around the courtyard and people-watch. Besides the few, obvious, student couples, very little was going on at all. Mostly dead trees and shrubs, dull mud, and deserted picnic tables (deserted except for the one with the college-age students making out on one of the benches) did little to stir the imagination. They were nothing at all compared to the story-tall, thickly-flowering rosebush tucked in the corner behind the dark green holly bushes.
Yes, what lovely blood-red roses... in the middle of winter. And was that a red box with a purple ribbon bow tucked underneath the holly bush in front of the roses?
She sighed as she screwed the cap of her water bottle back on. Granted, most of Kurama's fans weren't the brightest little bulbs, but even she had caught onto this disguise; the fox must have really been unprepared. So, ever so subtly, so as not to alert the rosebush-covered-teen, Lark snuck up from the side...
...And promptly kicked the bush in it's educationally-deducted-knees. Unlike the horror of Valentine's Day had done to Kurama, the sharp yelp that came from the rosebush didn't faze her in the slightest. Of course, the college students, who had fallen from their precarious position on the picnic bench, were another story. Lark waited until they had grabbed their things and left, directing a rather nasty glare towards her, before she turned to converse with the bush.
"Kurama, are you feeling okay? I mean, to hide in a blooming rose bush..."
"It was a diversion," the redhead replied, picking his way out from behind the holly bush, not from the roses, like Lark had predicted. Taking a gander at her confused reaction, Kurama chuckled. "Like I said..."
Lark sighed, and nudged Kurama in the ribs with her elbow. "You are too smart for your own good. You know that, right?"
"Ah, I was looking all over for you!"
Before he even bothered to identify the speaker, Kurama lunged for the bushes, only to be trapped as Lark grabbed the back of his shirt collar with a surprisingly strong hand. With nowhere to escape, Kurama turned and got a good look at the newcomer, ready to run (Lark attached or not) if it was indeed one of his fangirls.
Instead, quite to his surprise, it was Lyra that ran up to them, looking over her shoulder.
"I'm so glad I found you guys. The entire day, I've had the feeling someone's watching me."
"What?" Normally, Lyra didn't make an accusation like that unless it really bothered her, and that was enough to convince Lark. The younger sister cast glances around the courtyard. Prying Lark's fingers from around his collar, Kurama coughed and asked the water manipulator, "What class were you in last?"
"Actually, I had a free period first thing this morning, but other than that I've been in Geometry all day." She gave another shiver, and stepped off to the side of the path, staring at the ground like it would jump up an attack her. "There it goes again..."
"Eh, uh, sis, are you sure that you're not imagining things, now? I mean, you're expecting the ground to stalk you?" Lark experimentally tapped her toe on the brick path, one eyebrow raised. It was Kurama, however, who pieced two and two together.
"No, it's under the ground, but something is interfering with its energy; I can't read it." The fox placed a hand on Lyra's shoulder, and made the mental decision to give up on running away from the other females on campus for the day. For now, getting rid of this potential stalker was much more important. "Lyra, why don't I walk you to your class. Lark, I'm pretty sure your break is over, too."
Lark rolled her eyes, and took an aggravated sip of her water. "Fine, I'll leave you two alone for now. Just keep me in the loop on that freak, okay?"
Again the bell rang, sending out the message that the short break had ended, and that all students should report back to their classrooms. The mood dampened somewhat, Lark stalked back into Shikyo's class.
"So that's where you went!"
Yusuke jumped at the voice, but only glared up at Justin as the other boy dully kicked Yusuke's foot. A rather boring two minutes later, the brown-haired boy flopped down on the ground next to the spirit detective, soaking in the view of the frost-skimmed pond.
"What are you doing out here? We have a three period of Suzuki's class," Justin asked, receiving a snort of a reply from Yusuke.
"I left you to deal with him, considering he's your favorite teacher."
Justin gave Yusuke another glare at the comment, and lazily punched him in the arm. "I should kill you, Yusuke."
"I love you."
Both of them stared in shock at each other, Justin scooting away from Yusuke as if the Japanese teen had suddenly asked him for his hand in marriage. Yusuke, meanwhile, could only barely register what had come out of his mouth. If it had been one of his snappy comebacks, sure -- he was used to spitting them out without thinking.
But this... What he had said had been forced out of his mouth, replacing the other remark he had been forming in his mind. Needless to say, this was not normal.
The mutual, friendshippy, feeling had been replaced with a stunning disbelief for what had just happened, and Justin got to his feet. "You know, actually, I have something else to do. See you later." That said and done, Justin departed, giving Yusuke an incredulous look over his shoulder as he sprinted up the concrete steps.
No, not normal at all... In fact, it gave the spirit detective such an uncomfortable feeling in the bottom of his gut, that he decided that it couldn't hurt him much more to test this new phenomena. In search of a test subject that he could quickly beat into submission if the threat of blackmail arose, Yusuke left the pond and headed towards the library.
"Hey!" Yusuke nearly jumped at the voice, a cold sweat building up on the back of the neck. Hunching his shoulders, Yusuke attempted to walk faster, in a hopeless, but desperate, attempt to avoid detection.
A large hand clapped onto his shoulder, jerking Yusuke back as the spirit detective attempted to just walk on by. "Hey, I was talking to you, jerk."
Slowly, Yusuke turned around to face his capturer. It figured Kuwabara would show up now, of all times.
Then, it clicked in Yusuke's head: Kuwabara was the perfect test subject, since if there was one person he most certainly did not love with an undying passion, that person definitely had Kuwabara's mug.
"What do you want?" He snapped, not quite unkindly. Already, he could feel his stomach knot up in premonition of the horror to come. The carrot-top before him decided to give up on cutting off the circulation to Yusuke's arm in favor of killing his friend by means of shaking baby syndrome, as he roughly shook Yusuke by the shoulders.
"You have to help me! I forgot to do that math sheet we had due!"
His brain just beginning to stop rattling around in his skull, Yusuke pried Kuwabara off him. Was it just him, or did something sound unusually strange about that request?
"What? Kuwabara, what's wrong with your head this time?"
"I'm not joking, Urameshi!"
"I love you."
The second the words came out of his mouth, Kuwabara's eyes just widened, and total silence reigned...
...Until the taller boy just thwapped Yusuke on the head, and grumbled, "Stop kidding around, you jack-ass!"
Finally managing to convince Kuwabara that he would be much better off asking someone who actually cared about school, Yusuke finally made it to the library. Already, he was filling in his little mental-checklist. Test subject one, complete. It wasn't pretty, but the same thing had happened, again without conscious thought. Now to find a second person to test it on...
Yusuke had almost made it to the back of the library, where magazines and the monthly comics were held, when the demonic aura flared up. He barely had time to groan in annoyance before the orange-haired Ayame stood behind him, aura simmering.
"And what do you want?"
"Embyr," was the one-word response. Out of the corner of his eye, the spirit detective caught Ayame cross his arms, and Yusuke turned around, careful to keep his own aura at a rather intimidating level. No doubt Ayame was a much weaker and outclassed opponent, but that didn't mean the stoic demon couldn't pack a surprise or two.
When Yusuke didn't answer right away, Ayame carried on. "I heard you pushed her down the stairs."
At this, the black-haired teen sighed in annoyance. "Now, wait, that was all a misunderstanding." The fire demon didn't look particularly happy about this, giving Yusuke no choice but to elaborate. "I was in a rush, and she ran into me. It's not my fault she fell."
The energy from Ayame intensified, and Yusuke was sure the temperature had risen a few degrees, as well. This wasn't good - not at all. "Hey, don't get mad at me."
Another youki increase; wonderful. Looking closely, Yusuke was certain he saw the muscles in Ayame's jaws clench, and the spirit detective back away. He didn't have the time for this..!
As soon as Yusuke cracked his knuckles, preparation in case the demon did decide to revert to his more violent habits, Ayame seemed to pull himself together, and only leaned in close to the spirit detective's face (a definite improvement from before the summer, when the orange-head was just as likely to bash someone's face in). "Just don't do it again, you got me, Yusuke?"
Crap... here it came again...
"I love you."
Luckily for our dear Yusuke, he managed to take advantage of Ayame's surprise to run for his life. Count that as test subject two...
Nervously, she checked out the window yet again, letting her gaze stray from the textbook that lay open in front of her. The window was tightly shut, with a foam strip along the bottom to prevent drafts from blowing in; it was imperative that the little creature in the terrarium on the far side of the room, a rather elusive little lizard that had wedged itself between it's rock cave and the glass side of the tank, didn't get a chill. Technically, the "guest" in Ms. Hisagawa's classroom was the topic of discussion at the moment, the same creature that they were reading about in their textbooks. But the constant feeling of being watched, it unnerved Lyra to no end.
"Lyra, care to tell me what's so interesting about the window?" The teacher lightly rapped her short fingernails on the table next to the open textbook, making the water manipulator jump. A few heads swiveled in her direction, most notably Kurama's, and Lyra sweatdropped. "Ah, uh, I'm fine," she lied, pointedly ignoring the window.
Even though Ms, Hisagawa nodded, Lyra knew that the teacher didn't really buy the excuse. As the exotic creatures teacher moved on to check over the notes of another student, Kurama shrugged at her from across the room. Not quite understanding what the fox meant, Lyra meant to silently ask him, though hand signals and over exaggerated motions, what he was getting at. Twenty seconds after a horrendous example of charades, Lyra just gave up and tried to focus on her work.
Oh, wait, she thought. I didn't actually answer her question... oops.
Oops, indeed, but now the period was drawing to a close. As the clock ticked away, minute by minute, more and more students started to pack away their notebooks, and stack the textbooks in the cabinet by the terrarium in the back of the room.
Before he knew it, a large pile of hardcover textbooks had miraculously appeared in front of Kurama, and even more were being passed along the tables to the ever-growing pile. Giving the boy next to him a questioning look, the student merely shrugged and returned back to his manga. Left with no other choice, the redhead carried the dozen-odd books to the back, neatly shelving them even as the bell rang and his classmates stampeded out.
Lyra was the only one not to rush out, and spent her time trying to get a glimpse of the little lizard in its terrarium while Kurama neatened the shelved books.
"You know, I've never seen him get so nervous." It was as if Ms, Hisagawa had suddenly appeared over Lyra's shoulder. Not that the teacher actually had the ability to do so -- rather, she was very quiet, to the point you wouldn't even notice she was there. Now, however, her normally gentle demeanor was strained with worry. "I wonder what could have him so worked up. He was fine with the morning class, you know."
"I, uh, I don't know. Maybe one of the others scared him?"
"One of your classmates? Hm..." She pursed her lips in thought. "Could be. Oh, why hello there little guy." Hisagawa lifted up the screen lid and scooped up her specimen as the lizard was crawling out from the protection of it's rock. Pale sandy-brown in color, the creature blended in with the teacher's skin tone almost exactly, except for the little purple mask that covered it's large black eyes.
"In any case, you better get back to your dorms. Kurama, leave those books, I can clean them up later."
Again, before they knew what was happening, the two roommates found themselves shepherded outside the small building that housed the class. Slowly strolling along the path back onto the main grounds, Lyra watched her breath float away from her in little fading puffs of fog.
"You know," she started, after the silence had begun to get to her, "That thing following me hasn't gotten any better."
"Uh-huh," was the placid response. They turned off the cobble path, the sidewalk turning to cement as they passed the various dorm buildings.
"It seems to follow the water, though. Or, the water pipes."
"Now that's interesting. And familiar." The last bit was said dryly, as the fox seemed to recall something that didn't particularly amuse him all that much. They walked a few more steps before Lyra caught on, and stared at the ground beneath her feet. "Could he really be back?"
"I don't see why not... when did he ever leave?"
"Now you're being a brat," Lyra jokingly muttered, and continued to walk faster. Standing behind and watching, Kurama amusedly noticed the way the girl would check the ground every few seconds. He continued to be amused as such all the way back to the dorm, sometimes chuckling when Lyra mustered up annoyance to give him a mild glare.
But, other than the nagging suspicion that something wasn't right, nothing happened to them. The presence even slipped away, towards the cliffs, and left them alone.
And then they got home.
"Hollyyy! Is that a letter I see poking out of your bag?" hand-drying the dishes, the older Landon brother peered around the kitchen island as Holly did her best to scurry up to her room without his notice. As usual, the effort had failed, and the only choice she was left with was to pour out an excuse while making a sprint up the steps.
"Uh... yeah, would you look at that! It's just a valentine from a friend, nothing important, bye!"
The excuse was obviously the wrong one; unluckily for Holly, she never saw the brief flash of spiritual energy in her brother's eyes. The winds picked up under her, lifting her into the air and even fighting the power of her broom as she attempted to fly away. Despite her complaints, she was sent, floating, back to Victoria in the kitchen; Lyra and Kurama had unlocked the door and peered inside just as the witch was sent soaring across the living room.
"What's going on, here?" Kurama asked. Kyuro, ambling on down the stairs in his own lazy way, merely attempted a shrug with the former thief.
"It seems my sister got a love letter..." With a wave of his finger, Holly was rotated in midair, her face nearly red from yelling so much. Even as his younger sister cursed him to oblivion, the cross dresser neatly plucked the white envelope from where it was half-hanging out of the backpack pocket. The envelope was sliced open with a little scalpel of pressurized air, and the letter - with it's official school symbol imprinted on the top-right corner - was professionally scanned through. "Well, well. It seems that today's date is an office detention. For, what's this surprise? Oh, of course, almost flying through a stained glass window."
"It was an accident," was the only response the witch could come up with. Victoria only gave her a disapproving look, and released the energy that kept her afloat. Holly quickly retreated to the living room couch, earning a quck ear-twitch in her direction from Embyr, where Kyuro jumped up onto her shoulder and rubbed his cheek against hers, looking for attention. "I'm not kidding, either. I was minding my own business when Yusuke just came running up out of nowhere."
"Did you almost hit him," Kurama questioned. Holly shook her head, and eyebrows furrowed. "I yelled out his name, so he'd move, and said that he loved me. I was so surprised I lost control of the broom."
Kyuro hopped from Holly's shoulder to the couch armrest and neatly tucked his tail around himself as he regarded his human charge. "Now that is unusual."
"Beyond unusual," Lyra muttered. "That's just downright weird."
"Yes, yes... I'll admit Yusuke isn't the sensitive type. But I wonder if he's come down with something?" Kurama only pursed his lips in thought, his red hair falling about his shoulders as if some invisible wind stirred them. Despite the fox's seriousness, Kyuro couldn't help but crack another insult.
"Our poor Yusuke-boy's had his brains addled? Did he fall on his head, again?"
Kurama only gave the cat familiar an annoyed look, but had to brush the hair from his face. It was only then that he realized that the seemingly dramatic wind-effects had not been imaginary.
All four of them looked over towards the kitchen where Victoria was only calmly washing a few green peppers. The wind, coming from the crossdresser's direction, was constant and forceful, getting stronger by the second. As soon as Victoria moved the vegetables to the cutting board and began to slice into them with reckless abandon, not stopping until the peppers were well past the "diced" stage, did the slight breeze erupt into a full-blown gale.
The newspaper went flying off the coffee table, scattering section by section in the air. Futilely, Embyr clamped her fingers down on her book, earnestly trying to keep her place; from her lap, Momo went off into frenzied barking. Holly squeezed Kyuro tight to her chest, while Kurama and Lyra braced themselves against the kitchen island, their feet sliding over the linoleum until they were braced against the edge of the living room carpet.
Somehow, over the noise of rushing wind, Victoria managed to holler Yusuke's voice loud enough to be heard upstairs. Begrudgingly, he came downstairs, brown eyes filled with malice as he whispered words that couldn't be heard over the wind. As he stood in front of Victoria, Lyra managed to catch Kuwabara as he quickly peeked around the corner of the staircase, then ducked back behind the solid wall. Stealthily, the basement door opened a crack; almost before she could catch it, a black blur zipped across the front yard, towards the living room window, before it dodged off to the side.
Everyone had noticed Yusuke's strange behavior over the day, probably. She wouldn't be surprised if, had she decided to open the French doors to the teacher's bedroom, Erika was listening from the other side of the glass. Ever since they had returned, the tension between Yusuke and Victoria had been building up, to the point where it would eventually boil over -- today.
And they were all there to see him get chewed out for it.
The wind died down, to the point where neither had to shout to be heard. "Yusuke, be a dear and tell me what's been going on with you, hm?" The tone could have almost have been considered motherly, provided the possibility Victoria wasn't really a man in a dress, and the knife he washed off in the sink wasn't designed for cutting through flesh and bone.
Yusuke only mumbled something under his breath, too quiet again for anyone to hear, before launching into his excuse. "There's nothing wrong." Victoria only spared him a glance before drying off the knife, lovingly wiping the water off with a towel.
"Everyone's worried about you, you know." When this was only replied to with a grunt, Victoria sighed. "Really, now! Stop moping and tell me what's wrong."
Another grunt, and Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets. Obviously, he was uncomfortable and, obviously, he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. "I think I'll just leave, now." Turning his back on the wind-controller, Yusuke went to go back up the stairs, only to pause half-way across the living room. Knowingly, Victoria grinned wickedly as the spirit detective turned around... but that grin turned upside-down when he realized that Yusuke couldn't be bothered with him at all.
Instead, the Japanese teen had become rather aware of Embyr's quiet snickering. It was nearly undetectable, an escape of breath that was betrayed only by the way her shoulders shook. She reacted slowly, with purpose, as she gently tucked her bookmark into place.
"Did you have fun today, Yusuke?"
"You..." For Yusuke, it was as if everything was piecing itself together, going from some obscure lines to a suddenly clear picture. Her attitude, the mark on his hand, even the very holiday.
Before anyone could stop him, Yusuke grabbed onto the young girl's wrist, pointing at the word "ZAP!" inscribed on the back of his hand. "Care to explain what this is, brat?"
Embyr only rolled her eyes and muttered, "Don't tell me you can't figure it out by now."
"You... you did something to me!" Another smart remark, and he would just about lose it, today. It wasn't as if everyone he hadn't run into anyone else on the way home, and he wa rather annoyed with the whole day in particular.
"It's easily reversible... but you're too stubborn to do that."
"You little!" he tightened his grip on her wrist, not caring how much Embyr squirmed in discomfort.
Of course, that was before the back door was blown in.
In surprise, he let go of Embyr, reigun aimed and ready, pointed towards the splintered door. Even before he was fully ready, he had felt the rush of wind as the basement door opened wide, and the familiar energy as a seed began to shed it's seed coat in Kurama's palm.
It was deathly quiet, all of them frozen and waiting for the attacker to act first. As soon as the four beacons sliced through the dust, Lyra jumped up from her hiding spot behind the kitchen island. "Wait," she commanded, nearly bumping into Victoria as she ran to the back door. Before any of them could react, she was wrapped up in the long whip-like whiskers, and the sinewy body of Koryu rushed in after.
"Lyra, you're back! You have no idea how dreadful it has been..! I hope you remembered-"
The others relaxed and sighed in relief, all except for Yusuke. Having that overgrown rat come into his home, just when he'd been hoping the rodent had been gone for good, was just the last straw. Pointing his glowing finger at the tail end, which was still hanging out the shredded remains of the door and far away from Lyra, he released the weak amount of stock-piled energy.
The rat shrieked as the reiki grazed past his fur, singing it an even darker black and leaving a softball-sized crater in the wall. The rat-like creature paused, scrutinizing the dent, from which smoke and faint embers drifted, and turned his four eyes on the spirit detective.
"Well, isn't that a fine hello. And to think, on my own birthday..."
"B-birthday?" Lyra's eyes widened, and she wriggled out of Koryu's clinging hug. "I, uh, what..?"
The shrug and shared glance from Kurama did no help to the situation. Technically, Koryu had been "born" on Valentine's day, but she had no idea he'd actually remembered it; they certainly hadn't.
"Uh, oh, right! Your birthday!" Victoria, who had drawn back from the reigun shot, nudged Yusuke in the ribs. "Why don't you, uh, call to make sure the food is coming, yes, Yusuke?"
He inaudibly stumbled over the words "I love you," before snapping back to reality. "What!" He stepped away from the witch, staring at the cordless home phone charging on the kitchen island as if it might bite him. "What are you talking about?"
"Get. The. Phone." A hand darted across Victoria's throat, a signal for Yusuke to shut up or suffer the consequences. Yusuke only glared at Victoria, who was in the process of sneaking the phone out of its cradle. Those same chocolate-brown eyes refocused on the offered electronic.
"No."
"You know the number, so just... dial it. We're having take-out tonight."
"Are you insane? Dinner is already half-cook--"
Briskly, the phone rang, making them both jump. Pressing the call button, Victoria brought the phone up to his ear, and seemed to be listening intently. After a few nods and "Uh-huuuh... really!"'s, he handed it to Yusuke. "It's for you."
"Give me that!" He swiped it from Victoria's slender hand, and brought the receiver to his ear, only to hold it back again as the voice on the other end nearly burst his ear drums with its screaming.
"Where have you been? It's been months, and I finally get a call from Kuwabara that you've been home for over a week, and you just forget!"
"I-uh, I-"
She cut him off sharply. "You promised to come home for Christmas, so where were you? Yusuke!"
Quite like the other times, it came out of his mouth unexpectedly, but this time loud enough to earn a few chuckles from somewhere behind the basement door. "I love you."
Embyr re-opened her book, flipping through the pages nonchalantly until she reached her bookmark. She stole a yellow-hued glance upwards, towards the older teen and the girl whom he was on the phone with, and scratched Momo under the chin.
"..Yus- what? What did you say?"
Ah, hell, they'd heard him, anyways. Might as well go all out, now. "And I'm sorry... for earlier, Keiko. I didn't mean to forget about Christmas."
Silence on the other end, and even on his own end of the line. The others had come down for a show, and they were certainly getting one. He hadn't expected Keiko to call today, of all times...
"Oh, Yusuke... you're still an ass." Even as she said those words, and even though she was probably a thousand miles and a complete dimensional barrier away, he could see her smile.
"Yeah, I know. I love you--" This time, it was the soft click and dead ringtone as Keiko suddenly hung up on him, that interrupted his half-joke. "--too," He lamely finished.
He slammed the phone back into the cradle, and wearily sighed, his entire body slumping in exhaustion. He halfheartedly waved behind him at the confused Koryu, and only gave Embyr a long look as he made his way to the stairs. Right about now, a party for the damned water rat, and dealing with the obnoxious little charm-caster was the last thing he needed.
"Hey, Yusuke?"
He turned around, and dully answered Holly with, "What?"
"Want me to save you some dinner?"
"Yeah, whatever..."
He was so tired, he never even noticed the "ZAP!" fade from his hand. Once Yusuke was gone, Embyr looked up from her book.
"Who was that Keiko girl on the phone?" She asked, yellow eyes focused on Kurama's green ones. The older fox managed a faint smile. "Just a very close friend of his."
"Ah," She murmured, returning to her book. "Who knew..?"
Yes, it's been forever. Kill me now. But it's done, and I shall be returning to the more serious plottage from now own.
Personally, I think the chapter kinda petered out at the end... I always love writing for Hanabi, though. Especially when he tries so hard to be brave. XD