Disclaimer: I do NOT own YuYuHakusho
Episode 3
"Hey, where do you live anyways?" Kuwabara asked. The Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Akuryou were standing right outside the gate of Sarayashiki High.
"I live not far from here."
"Ok... Can you be a bit more specific?"
"It is difficult to describe the whereabouts of my house; it is well hidden and no normal humans can see it unless I tell them it is there. You, however, having considerable amounts of reiki, should be able to"
"Whatever..." Yusuke grumbled. "Hey, look, it's Kurama!"
The red head was walking briskly in the direction of his friends, and waving. Yusuke and Kuwabara waved back.
"Eh?"
"YUSUKE!!!" Came the all too familiar voice of an angry brunette.
"Oh, hello Keiko." Said Yusuke, backing away slowly and cautiously.
"Why are you still here?! Did you put a bomb in the science department again?!"
"I did not!" Yelled Yusuke indignantly. "It wasn't me!!! It was that nerd, Kanryu! HE was the one that put the bomb in last time!"
"And I have a reason to believe you because?!?!?!" Keiko yelled back.
"I swear! It wasn't—"His reply was cut off by a loud explosion. Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Akuryou ducked as tiny shards of glass fell from inside the gates. "Ok, that wasn't me! I wasn't even in the Science lab today!"
"Then what just—"
"Oh, that was me." Everyone turned to stare at the assassin. She had her right hand slightly raised, bored expression on her face. "I got bored waiting for you here, so I chucked a hand grenade through the window. I guess it was the faulty one though; It should have detonated right away." They continued to stare at her in shocked silence.
"Don't worry, no one was in there when I tossed it..."
"Ha, so it wasn't me!" Yusuke was the first to speak. The others shook their heads.
"Anyways... Who are you? I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name," Keiko asked Akuryou.
"Akuryou."
"Ah. I'm Keiko. Nice to meet you!"
"Mmhm."
"So um... Are you new around here? I've never seen you before..."
"No, I've been living here for a while."
"Oh... Then... I hope you don't mind me asking, but are another one of those people that Yusuke works with?"
Akuryou raised an eyebrow. "Smart girlfriend, detective." Both Yusuke and Keiko blushed.
) A week later...(
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Akuryou were running through a thick forest, with nothing to guide them, other than vague instructions from the ticket seller.
"Where did you say the ship was?" Yusuke asked.
"The guy who gave me the tickets said it was somewhere 'over there'," replied Akuryou exasperatedly, pointing vaguely. "Don't look at me like that, that's what he-- There it is!"
The forest was clearing up, and something big and metal was appearing. The something big and metal was a ship, rather crudely made, but it was at least recognizable.
"That's the thing that's going to take us to the Ankoku Bujutsukai?!" Kuwabara yelped. "I'm surprised that thing can even float!"
"Same here."
Kuwabara sighed and looked around. "When are the shrimp and Kurama gonna get here?"
"They're here," Akuryou said mildly from behind Kuwabara.
"Eh?" He turned around. Kurama, who was smiling and waving his hand slightly, and Hiei, who was standing there and looking somewhat sinister, were both standing next to Yusuke. "Oh! There you guys are!"
"Sorry to break you're little reunion, but don't you guys see each other, what, everyday?" Akuryou asked.
"Yeah, well, it makes me feel better to see a familiar face..."
"Mmhm. Ok, let's go board the ship. Hopefully, the captain's learned what breath mints are by now..."
) Aboard the ship...(
Following the captain's instructions, our heroes found their way through the maze of corridors to their cabin. The cabin was small and dinghy, giving off an air of untidiness. Five large, sagging hammocks were hung up around the room.
"Hmm, looks like the island will be a while away," Akuryou said, dumping her bag onto the hammock in the back of the room.
"Why do you say that?" Kurama asked. He was busy making sure the hammock he picked wouldn't collapse when he sat on it. Deciding it was safe, he set his backpack on it and sat down.
"Well, there are places to sleep. And there's a kitchen. I smelled it on the way here." Akuryou lay down.
"You think they'll give me anything to eat? I'm starving!" Yusuke asked from above Kuwabara's head; Yusuke's hammock hung over Kuwabara's, Hiei's over Kurama's, and Akuryou's alone.
Kurama looked at his watch, and replied," They should be serving dinner by now, if they are at all."
"Let's go!" Kuwabara and Yusuke jumped off their hammocks and ran off.
"Those idiots," Akuryou muttered to herself, getting up and following the two boys.
) At the cafeteria...(
"Doesn't look to welcome, does it, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked. The cafeteria was very simple: a big room with rows of tables and chairs. (Kind of like the ones in a school cafeteria... except no one washes them here). Plus, most of the demons there looked like they had escaped from the local jail.
"Oh well, as long as there's food!" Yusuke said, running to get in line.
Akuryou came in just as Yusuke and Kuwabara were about to bite into their... food.
"I wouldn't eat here if I were you."
"Aw c'mon Akuryou! You're just paranoid!" Yusuke bit into his drumstick. "Me, I think I'll eat some of this drumstick..."
"Are you sure that's chicken?"
The spirit detective immediately spat out the "chicken". "What?!"
Akuryou shrugged. "You never know what this stuff is made out of. Even if you did, you wouldn't know where they got it."
Yusuke looked at his plate with a sick look, face green. Kuwabara folded his arms and asked," What do you suppose we eat then?"
"I brought food."
"Why didn't you tell us?!"
"You seemed so eager to try out some demon's food, so I let you... I'm not saying you can't eat it, I'm just saying it's not always safe." Akuryou looked over at the line. "I think I'll go get something to eat."
"... What a hypocrite. If you're gonna eat the food here, why'd you bother to bring more?"
"That was because I doubted you would eat the food after a night here. Go ahead, eat. I'm not stopping you," said Akuryou, and she left to join the queue.
Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other, shrugged, and began to eat again.
"Um, excuse me?" A voice asked. The two boys looked up. A girl was standing in front of them. Her hair was canary yellow, tied up in a half ponytail, and her bangs covered up the left side of her face. That was the first thing Yusuke noticed. Then he noticed that she was leading a small boy, who had leaped onto the table. The boy's hair was also yellow, but also a little bit brown. The clothes he was wearing was too big for him.
"How may we help you?" Yusuke asked sarcastically. A girl? Here? He thought.
"Have you seen a demon named Rantou? He's a little taller than me, has red hair with blue streaks in it... um... He has a scar on his face that looks kind of like a spider... Um..." The girl thought a bit longer. "Oh, and he's in a very bad mood. Seen him?"
"Nope, sorry," Yusuke said, turning back to his plate of food.
"We just got in here," Kuwabara explained.
"Hey, boneheads," Akuryou said, coming back from the lunch line. "Oh, hello, didn't see you there, sorry." She said, almost putting her tray on the little boy's head. The girl's expression changed from friendly and curious to cold and hateful. Akuryou apparently did not notice and started to eat.
"Er.... Yea. So, what's your—"Yusuke turned to the girl to find that she was gone. ",name." He finished awkwardly.
"Hey, Urameshi, what happened to the squirt that was with her?" Kuwabara asked, looking for the small boy.
"Dunno, guess he left with her."
"Oh. Hey Akuryou, how come that girl's expression changed when she saw you?"
"Hm?" Akuryou looked up, mouth full. She swallowed. "How come that girl's expression changed like what?"
"Well, she was friendly looking... but then you came back and she got all mean looking," Kuwabara answered. "Like this." He made a face. "You didn't seem to care either. I mean, she was giving off pretty menacing reiki."
Akuryou snorted. "Kuwabara, if I watched out for every youkai who gave off menacing reiki when they saw me, I'd be forever looking over my shoulder. All youkai hate me... Some more than others. I wonder what I did to her though."
"Beats me. I'm full," Yusuke said, pushing away his plate. "I'm going to sleep now."
"Sleep? Are you kidding me?"
"Why? What's wrong with sleep?"
"Well, you shouldn't go to bed too early. There might be stalkers that come in and try to kill you."
"... Akuryou, you're paranoid!" Yusuke yawned. "I'm going to bed."
"Detective, there is a difference between caution and paranoia," Akuryou got up from her chair as well, and left the cafeteria.
"Yeah, and you don't know it," Yusuke shot back. "Hey, Kuwabara, you coming too?"
"Sure."
) On the deck...(
How pointless, Akuryou brooded, scowling. Joining the Ankoku Bujutsukai again, when I hardly had to lift a finger to defeat my opponent. Who needs the team anyhow? Then her expression softened. But then, it's what's at the end that's most important...
"Hello, Akuryou, enjoying the view?"
The assassin whipped around, only to find it was Kurama.
"What view? It's just ocean for miles and miles, Kurama."
"I know. It just felt like the right thing to say."
"I see." Silence. "I think I'll go to our cabin... I'll see you later then."
"Yea, later."
As Akuryou left the deck, Kurama wondered what she was thinking about.
She looked so far away...
Me: Yay! This chapter is longer!!! I typed up 12 pages, then decided it was too long... (). So I cut it in half and moved the second half to be another chapter!!! And it's getting longer again...()
Preview!!!
Yusuke: Hey, it's me, Yusuke! What's up with Akuryou anyways? And who was that girl with the canary yellow hair? Find out next time, on YuYuHakusho!!!
Akuryou: ...-- isn't the title of this story Higan?
Yusuke: But it's based on MY story!
Akuryou: shrug whatever --