BIG TIP: If you know for a fact that I've posted a new chapter but the site
continually tells you that it doesn't exist, make certain that you are at
the URL of where the chapter SHOULD be and type ONE PERIOD at the end of
the address and hit enter. It should take you to the page. This trick also
works well on those 'site experiencing overload' pages, but sometimes it
won't go through.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry that this chapter is late. I went out of town over the weekend to visit Mississippi early. I tried to get this out beforehand, but the trip was kind of a surprise. (As in-- MOM: Hi, honey, how was school today? By the way, hope your bags are packed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes. ME: o.O; WHAAAT!!!!????)
If there are any spelling errors in this chapter, blame them on the Benedril that I'm taking for the stinking cold that I caught in MS. God, I hate colds . . .
Sewiousry, I'b been walgig around de houze soundig lige dis ALL DAY LOG. Id sugz.
(Seriously, I've been walking around the house sounding like this ALL DAY LONG. It sucks.)
- : - : - : - : - : -
Disclaimer: I own neither X-men nor Yu Yu Hakusho. I don't know WHO owns them, but it certainly isn't ME.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
"blah." means that the words are in English (unless the section is told from a Japanese-speaker's point of view with only Japanese people talking -- I.e. Kurama, Yuusuke, Hiei, Logan, Genkai, etc.)
~"blah."~ means that the words are in Japanese.
="blah."= indicates words spoken in a Makai dialect.
~:blah.:~ telepathic speech.
- : - : - : - : - : -
A/N: This will not be a blatantly yaoi or shounen-ai story. In fact, there will be NO romance WHATSOEVER. There will be brother-brother relationships between Yuusuke, Kurama and Hiei, but I suppose that some of you out there could interpret their actions as 'love' if you wanted. It's your call, however you want to view it.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Grade levels go something like this:
Scott: senior
Jean: junior
Lance: junior
Fred: junior
Rogue: sophomore
Kurt: sophomore
Kitty: freshman
Evan: freshman
Todd: freshman
(Wanda doesn't technically go to school.)
Kurama: junior
Yuusuke: junior
Hiei: junior
- : - : - Chapter Twelve: School: Take One - : - : -
="NO, Hiei."=
="Who ever said that I was asking permission, MY LORD?"=
="You CAN'T bring your KATANA to SCHOOL."=
="Hn."=
Standing in the middle of Kurama's room, Hiei had both his hands wrapped around the lower half of his sword, glaring death at Yuusuke, who similarly had both HIS hands wrapped around the pommel and upper part of the scabbard of the sword.
="Hiei, there's no way . . ."=
="Let GO, detective."=
="NO."=
Garnet eyes flashed dangerously even as ivory fangs glimmered in a snarl. ="LET. GO."=
A new voice broke in. ="I'll tell you what---"= A green vine lashed out and wrapped itself firmly around the middle of the scabbard, jerking the weapon easily from the two demons' hands. ="Why don't BOTH of you let go?"=
Yuusuke and Hiei both turned to see Kurama lounging idly in the doorway between their two rooms, Hiei's sword gripped loosely in one hand and his Rose Whip dangling from his other. The firm look in his eyes clearly said that the sword in question was NOT leaving the premises without blood first being shed.
="You,"= said the kitsune pointedly, ="are going to make us late."=
- : - : - : - : - : -
Yuusuke's hand was firmly wrapped around the handle on the car door, a grim look on his face as Scott took another right-angle curve at speeds nearing forty-five miles per hour. Kurama, looking equally somber, trapped in the middle of the backseat between Yuusuke and Rogue, had his fingers imbedded up to the first knuckle in the upholstery; Yuusuke wouldn't have been at all surprised if they got out of the car and found that Kurama had sprouted his claws during the drive as a safety precaution.
Hiei endured the ride with a scowl plastered firmly upon his face, stationary throughout the entire trip despite the fact that he refused to hold on to anything, even in light of Scott's . . . unique . . . driving style.
Humorously enough, the three demons were the calmest passengers to be seen. Jean --in the passenger's seat up front-- had her belt wrapped tightly around her waist whilst one of her hands held her hair away from her face and the other gripped at the handle on her door. Rogue, seated between Hiei and Kurama, was paler than usual, and that was no small feat to accomplish. She was following Kurama's example of gripping the upholstery; if the kitsune didn't cause holes in the fabric, Rogue sure as hell would.
At that moment, everyone except Scott was heartily wishing that they had followed Kitty's example and taken Kurt up on his offer of a courtesy *BAMPH* to school.
Arrival at Bayville High School was heralded by a chorus of relieved sighs, which was a pleasant change from the irregular cries of 'SCOTT!' and 'LOOK OUT!' and 'OH, GAWD! IF AH SURVIVE THIS, AH'M GONNA' /KILL/ YOU, SUMMERS!'
As soon as the car stopped in front of the school --Scott was attempting to play the perfect gentleman for Jean and so had decided to drop his passengers off at the door and park the car by himself--, Jean and Rogue each took several minutes to recover their breath. Yuusuke ignored the astonished looks of the two girls as he and Kurama, not even slightly out of breath, climbed calmly out of the car --Hiei merely vaulted out, disdaining to use such a mundane method of exit as a DOOR.
Jean and Rogue followed shortly after, still looking slightly shaky, and Scott waved jauntily at the auburn-haired young woman before driving away.
="Visor Boy's trying to win back his girl, I see,"= said Yuusuke, smiling. ="Sure you don't want to give him a run for his money, Kurama?"=
="I have enough things to worry about, thank you,= responded the redhead dryly.
Any further conversation was put on hold when Rogue turned to level an incredulous look at the trio.
"What ARE you?" she asked. "Ah've never seen anyone get through one of Shades' car rides without even staggerin' a bit! You supermen, or somethin'?"
="Or something,"= muttered Hiei.
"That was nothing." Yuusuke grinned at the pale girl. "I've got a friend that drives WAY worse than THAT."
Kurama laughed softly. =" . . . Botan's oar-rides DO tend to leave you somewhat disoriented,"= he murmured.
"Ah doubt that ANYONE could be worse than Shades," said Rogue.
"Come on," Jean interrupted, stepping between Rogue and the demons. "We need to get schedules for you three before anything else."
Yuusuke smirked. "Fun."
- : - : - : - : - : -
Lance leaned against one of the windows on the second-floor hallway, looking idly down upon the empty, silent school grounds. The tardy bell had rung a few short minutes ago, and almost all of the other students had disappeared into their respective classrooms. Behind him, Lance could hear the distinctive sounds of Fred 'The Blob' Dukes munching sloppily on a bag of potato chips procured from a nearby snack machine . . . free of charge, of course.
Pietro was standing near Lance, looking completely bored with his life, shifting from foot to foot, crossing and uncrossing his arms, tapping his fingers restlessly, and generally being his fidgety, irritated self.
"You have NO idea how lame this is to me, Lance," he muttered. "What happened to pestering X-geeks? Has this school become totally devoid of ANY form of entertainment, or what?"
"Toad hasn't shown up, yet," Lance reminded the silver-haired boy.
Pietro snorted. "Yeah, but so what? He was at the house this morning. What's the fuss?"
The crunching, munching sounds ceased momentarily. "Toad HAS been actin' weird," Fred commented.
"He never talks anymore," said Lance. "And have you noticed that he doesn't get in trouble, either?"
"I haven't been around his classes to see if he has or hasn't." Pietro's frown deepened. "What, he playing a goody-goody all of a sudden?"
"NO." Lance shook his head, absently scanning the hallways for anyone near enough to overhear their conversation. "He hasn't done anything to get INTO trouble in the first place, and that just isn't Toad."
"No, it isn't," Pietro agreed. He turned away, his eyes narrowing in thought.
Since Mystique had left her position as 'principle,' she was rarely around for them to use as a source of info, only showing up when Magneto had orders he needed fulfilled. She wouldn't have given a lone mission to Toad; he wasn't the solitary type . . . he needed a group to back him up, or else he was worthless in a real fight.
So . . . no mission. Maybe Frog-Boy was sick?
Nah, that couldn't be it, either. The night before, Todd had executed several amazing acrobatic stunts on his way through the kitchen during his escape attempt after snitching a sandwich from Fred --who was in close pursuit of the culprit at the time. No one Pietro knew could have managed three back-handsprings, a rebound off the fridge door, and a forward somersault with a twist and a round-off as a finale . . . all on a sour stomach.
Well, geeze, what could be wrong with the runt, then?
" . . . not very polite, Hiei . . ."
"Hn."
"C'mon, Kurama . . . you thought it was funny, too . . ."
Pietro's ears pricked at the sound of approaching voices, the Toad Problem momentarily pushed to the back of his thoughts. He glanced toward Lance and Fred; Fred hadn't noticed the voices over the sounds he was making during his pig-out session, but Lance met Pietro's gaze and nodded once, indicating that he had heard.
Pietro tilted his head to one side, frowning.
" . . . should show a BIT more restraint, both of you . . ."
The first voice: male, late teens . . .
"Hn. The way that YOU showed restraint earlier?"
Second: another male . . . but Pietro was unable to place the age.
"He's got a point, Kurama." The speaker raised his voice in a parody of a girl's, high pitched and dreamy. "'Oh, Shuichi! I LOVE your hair! HOW do you keep it so soft?' You practically bolted as soon as she shut up! Priceless!"
Third: another male, younger than the first, and packing a lot more attitude, judging by his flippant tone.
"Yuusuke . . . !"
"It's TRUE! You should have seen your face. Admit it, you wanted to Rose Whip her into Reikai."
A short pause. " . . . actually, I was considering the Death Tree."
"You would waste that much youki on a single human female?" Disgust was evident in the second speaker's tone. "Ch. Foxes . . ."
"I wouldn't've blamed you if you had, Kurama. I betcha' I could've gotten the toddler to cover for you."
"But she was a TEACHER!"
Pietro looked over to see Lance frowning, perplexed. The silver-haired boy was gratified to see that he wasn't the only one completely confused by the odd conversation.
Footsteps came ever closer, and three mismatched shadows fell on the tile floor as their owners neared the corner that shielded them from the Brotherhood of Mutants.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Yuusuke was grinning so widely that his face actually hurt.
Okay, so maybe it hadn't been the strangest thing he'd seen in his life, but it HAD been funny.
No, scratch that. The situation he had just been witness to had been HILARIOUS. Gut-busting, rib-wrenching, die-laughing hilarious.
Picking up their schedules had gone by without incident. The three demons had been pleased to find that the school had placed them all in the same classes to help them 'adjust' to the foreign school; as long as they kept up in class, there wouldn't be a problem.
The secretary was nice (in Kurama's case, a little TOO nice . . . THAT little incident had been entertaining as well), and the principle --Mr. Kelly-- had sent them several suspicious (and borderline vicious) looks upon hearing that they were rooming at the Xavier Institute, but everything went over relatively well.
They had managed to get away from Jean a few minutes before the first bell rang for class, and then they were all heading toward their new home room.
They picked desks as far back as they possibly could, Yuusuke and Kurama sitting so that they could buffer Hiei from the rest of the students (and vice versa), and Hiei had spent his time glaring at anyone who so much as glanced at him.
Kurama had drawn plenty of Looks from both females AND males since his arrival on campus, and it was all that Yuusuke could do to muffle his snickers at the kitsune's well-concealed (to human eyes) irritation. Yuusuke had decided that an innate fashion sense was part and parcel of being a fox-demon; Yuusuke was dressed in an old T-shirt and battered jeans, Hiei (having come without so much as an extra shirt) wore his usual black ensemble (minus the cloak and white scarf), and Kurama . . .
Kurama was dressed impeccably in jeans, a white undershirt, and a deep green button-up shirt that he had left hanging open.
For a short while at the beginning of class, Yuusuke had debated with himself whether or not it would be worthwhile to keep a tally of how many 'cute butt' comments the kitsune would draw by the end of the day.
Then the tardy bell had rung, and the fun REALLY began.
- : - : - Flashback - : - : -
The teacher frowned down at the class roll as her mouth moved slowly, trying to sound out the odd name.
"Ja . . . gan . . . shi . . . Hi . . . ei?"
It came out as 'Sha-gain-shee. Hai-ay.'
Hiei snorted contemptuously, and Yuusuke and Kurama exchanged an amused look.
The teacher fidgeted, pushing her glasses higher on her nose. "Is there anyone by that name here?"
Hiei had corrected her pronunciation of his name coolly. "Jaganshi Hiei."
"Oh, there you are. That's good. I . . ." She paused, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What--- What's that on your forehead?"
Hiei sneered. "A bandana, oban [1], what else would it be?"
"Well, take it off." The teacher frowned disapprovingly. "New student or not, no headgear of any kind is allowed inside school buildings, and that includes bandanas."
Hiei's eyes narrowed. He made no move to do as she had told him.
Yuusuke allowed himself a mental groan. There was a VERY limited number of people who could order Hiei to do something with impunity, and this female was NOT included in that select group.
="Hiei, please don't cause a scene,"= Kurama murmured.
The teacher was scowling indignantly at the small-statured demon, walking briskly down the aisle toward him.
="I'll deal with this how I please, fox."=
="Hiei!"=
The teacher's hand was stretching forth toward the offending band of white cloth. "When I say 'off,' mister, I mean OFF---"
Hiei's hand lashed around her wrist swifter than thought, and he somehow managed to extricate himself gracefully from the desk, rising to his feet without once removing his gaze from the startled teacher's face.
"Don't EVER touch me," he growled softly.
The entire class stared in fascination. Yuusuke for one was glad that no one from the Institute shared this particular class with them.
Yuusuke and Kurama slowly rose to their feet as well, wary of the explosive situation before them.
="Hiei . . . "= murmured Kurama warningly. ="Don't be rash."=
Yuusuke slid between Hiei and the teacher, laughing nervously. "Sorry, ma'am, you'll have to excuse my friend. He's got a few issues he needs to work out." He carefully extricated the stunned woman's wrist out of Hiei's iron grip, and Hiei allowed his hold to be broken. "That's really a bandage, you see . . . he tripped in the shower earlier this week, and he's been a bit irritable since then. I know you won't mind if we take him to see the councilor, now, right? Thanks, see you later!"
Kurama followed swiftly behind the two dark-haired demons (Yuusuke pulling Hiei along by one arm) as they made their escape from the crowded room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Hiei shook of the Toushin's grip, turning to snarl up at the taller boy.
"I. DON'T. /TRIP/."
- : - : - End Flashback - : - : -
Yuusuke folded his arms behind his head as the demonic trio wandered aimlessly down one of the school hallways. "Kurama, you worry WAY too much."
"We're supposed to be acting like normal kids. Skipping our FIRST CLASS on our FIRST DAY is NOT normal."
Yuusuke grinned, chuckling. "Hey, we said that we'd go to school. Nobody said anything about classes!"
Kurama sighed. "I doubt that our hosts will see it that way."
Yuusuke shrugged. "Hey, we'll just figure out which classes we have with people we know, and go to those classes with 'em. Then it'll look like we're model students."
They rounded a bend in the hallway, and the Reikai Tantei found themselves face-to-face with a trio that was nearly as odd as they were.
One was a boy with silver hair arranged in an odd, streamlined style, looking at them with a piercingly direct gaze. Second was a broad- shouldered boy with medium-length, dark brown hair, also staring at them.
The third was a mountain of a young man (more fat than man, if Yuusuke was any judge) with his hair cut in a mohawk, messily devouring a good-sized bag of potato chips.
"See?" Yuusuke turned slightly toward Kurama. "Told you that skipping was normal."
- : - : - To Be Continued . . . - : - : -
[1] Oban- Japanese: bitchy old hag
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry that it's short, but may I reiterate that I'm sick? I'm leaving now. Maybe next chapter will be longer (and posted sooner, hopefully *crosses fingers*).
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry, no review responses for this chapter. I'm only going to answer some questions that I thought were important, then I'm going to go load up on Benedril and collapse on the couch in a drugged stupor to ride out this stinking cold.
- : - : - : - : - : -
: takahashi shuurin : Feel free to explain the whole 'GENKAI LIVES!!!' thing to me the next time you review. And MANY, MANY, MANY thanks for your help with the translations. Don't worry, I'll stay away from 'aishite iru' and 'suki da yo' (sp?). I had no idea that 'I love you' was so . . . taboo, I suppose is the word I'm looking for. Being raised the way I have, a day doesn't go by that I don't tell my mom, brother, and dad that I love them, so it's really an odd concept for me. I think I'll use your first option, but sometimes I lean more toward the second. You'll have to wait and see which one I choose! Domo arigatou gozaimasu! (That IS right, correct?)
: Terris : You weren't imagining things. I went back and corrected my little boo-boo when you pointed it out to me. Thankies!
: Platinum1 : Do me a REALLY BIG favor and refer to the irritated, PMSing rant at the bottom of chapter 11. It still applies.
: carla : *huggles* I'm so HAPPY! I feel uberly loved. I'm really glad that you feel I am such a good writer. It's awesome when people tell me stuff like that, especially since I want to be a sci-fi/fantasy author when I graduate college! Yayness!
: Mistress of Dragons : *sighs* I would clarify the time period for you . . . if I could. I'm afraid that I'm gonna' be warping the X-men timeline all out of wack in the story. For all intents and purposes, let's say that people know that the X-men exist, but they don't know who the X-men are. Let's see if that works out . . .
: liz : Here's a review response for you, dearie. Hope you enjoy it. If you don't like my review responses, then just skip 'em and go to the next chapter, OK?
: lemmings_please : 1) Kurama and Yuusuke introduced Hiei to the X-men at the mansion, but aside from that . . . Hmm. I suppose that Koenma could have given Hiei ningen registration papers. I'll have to patch that little plot-hole when I go back and revise. 2) SO close . . . but not quite. ^_^
: Dragon Sythe : I actually looked up the tail thing on the internet, and it said that Kurama has five tails. The more powerful a fox-demon is, the more tails they have. Nine is the maximum, and I don't think that there are any nine-tailed kitsune around. Youko Kurama is uber powerful for a fox, and he's had a rough time of it. Someone would have to be way more powerful than him in order to survive long enough to grow nine tails. And yes, Yuusuke still has on the translator.
: O Demented ONe : Er . . . *hands over several doses of Valium* Get lots of rest, k?
: Lobo-Chan : I think I'll go with option #1, thanks. I don't write 'demented' very well. Thanks for the info!
: Gemini Star1 : Sickle moons are crescent moons. Go to http : / / physicsweb . org / box / news / 5 / 4 / 10 / 010410 (copy, paste, and remove the spaces). It's a very pretty picture. As far as Black Tempest and Shadow Tempest goes, I did that on purpose. When you translate between two languages, there's always going to be something twisted or altered in the process. In this case, 'black' got morphed into 'shadow.' Nothing major, but I thought that it would sound better in English as 'Shadow Tempest.'
: Evil Towel : Yep, the Mi'snarii flower is purely mine. Glad you liked it. And if you think that six-hour plane rides are long, try six-hour CAR rides. That's what I go through visiting MS. Yeesh. Already done it twice this week: once on Friday, once on Sunday. FUN. *note: heavy sarcasm on previous word*
: Greeneyes7 : No, he told her that he was a mutant. Sorry to disappoint.
: Kyandoru : *squirms uncomfortably* Well, Hiei IS half-koorime. What else am I supposed to call him? Half-breed? That'll go over REAL well. You want me to be decapitated ala katana or something? . . . Oh, well. I'll see what I can do.
: Karamas_Girl123 : Yuusuke IS part demon, so it's just his demonic blood coming to the fore. As far as his name goes, technically there are thousands of ways you can spell names from anime, since hiragana are symbols for phonetic sounds and not really letters. The extra 'u' in Yuusuke is just there for emphasis. Don't let it bother you.
: Yanslana : I'll be certain to put some of my favorite stories into my folder for you, k? Hope you like 'em. I tend to be picky about what I read, so they should meet your expectations as far as plot, characterization, and grammar goes.
: SelurOatNer : Interesting screen name. I think you're a bit mixed up, though. The Brotherhood is the group with Pietro, Lance, Fred, and Todd (Avalanche, Quicksilver, The Blob, and Toad). I think that you mean the Acolytes (Magneto's band of merry mutants). I won't be putting them in there because I don't know enough about their characters to write them well. Sorry.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry that this chapter is late. I went out of town over the weekend to visit Mississippi early. I tried to get this out beforehand, but the trip was kind of a surprise. (As in-- MOM: Hi, honey, how was school today? By the way, hope your bags are packed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes. ME: o.O; WHAAAT!!!!????)
If there are any spelling errors in this chapter, blame them on the Benedril that I'm taking for the stinking cold that I caught in MS. God, I hate colds . . .
Sewiousry, I'b been walgig around de houze soundig lige dis ALL DAY LOG. Id sugz.
(Seriously, I've been walking around the house sounding like this ALL DAY LONG. It sucks.)
- : - : - : - : - : -
Disclaimer: I own neither X-men nor Yu Yu Hakusho. I don't know WHO owns them, but it certainly isn't ME.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
"blah." means that the words are in English (unless the section is told from a Japanese-speaker's point of view with only Japanese people talking -- I.e. Kurama, Yuusuke, Hiei, Logan, Genkai, etc.)
~"blah."~ means that the words are in Japanese.
="blah."= indicates words spoken in a Makai dialect.
~:blah.:~ telepathic speech.
- : - : - : - : - : -
A/N: This will not be a blatantly yaoi or shounen-ai story. In fact, there will be NO romance WHATSOEVER. There will be brother-brother relationships between Yuusuke, Kurama and Hiei, but I suppose that some of you out there could interpret their actions as 'love' if you wanted. It's your call, however you want to view it.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Grade levels go something like this:
Scott: senior
Jean: junior
Lance: junior
Fred: junior
Rogue: sophomore
Kurt: sophomore
Kitty: freshman
Evan: freshman
Todd: freshman
(Wanda doesn't technically go to school.)
Kurama: junior
Yuusuke: junior
Hiei: junior
- : - : - Chapter Twelve: School: Take One - : - : -
="NO, Hiei."=
="Who ever said that I was asking permission, MY LORD?"=
="You CAN'T bring your KATANA to SCHOOL."=
="Hn."=
Standing in the middle of Kurama's room, Hiei had both his hands wrapped around the lower half of his sword, glaring death at Yuusuke, who similarly had both HIS hands wrapped around the pommel and upper part of the scabbard of the sword.
="Hiei, there's no way . . ."=
="Let GO, detective."=
="NO."=
Garnet eyes flashed dangerously even as ivory fangs glimmered in a snarl. ="LET. GO."=
A new voice broke in. ="I'll tell you what---"= A green vine lashed out and wrapped itself firmly around the middle of the scabbard, jerking the weapon easily from the two demons' hands. ="Why don't BOTH of you let go?"=
Yuusuke and Hiei both turned to see Kurama lounging idly in the doorway between their two rooms, Hiei's sword gripped loosely in one hand and his Rose Whip dangling from his other. The firm look in his eyes clearly said that the sword in question was NOT leaving the premises without blood first being shed.
="You,"= said the kitsune pointedly, ="are going to make us late."=
- : - : - : - : - : -
Yuusuke's hand was firmly wrapped around the handle on the car door, a grim look on his face as Scott took another right-angle curve at speeds nearing forty-five miles per hour. Kurama, looking equally somber, trapped in the middle of the backseat between Yuusuke and Rogue, had his fingers imbedded up to the first knuckle in the upholstery; Yuusuke wouldn't have been at all surprised if they got out of the car and found that Kurama had sprouted his claws during the drive as a safety precaution.
Hiei endured the ride with a scowl plastered firmly upon his face, stationary throughout the entire trip despite the fact that he refused to hold on to anything, even in light of Scott's . . . unique . . . driving style.
Humorously enough, the three demons were the calmest passengers to be seen. Jean --in the passenger's seat up front-- had her belt wrapped tightly around her waist whilst one of her hands held her hair away from her face and the other gripped at the handle on her door. Rogue, seated between Hiei and Kurama, was paler than usual, and that was no small feat to accomplish. She was following Kurama's example of gripping the upholstery; if the kitsune didn't cause holes in the fabric, Rogue sure as hell would.
At that moment, everyone except Scott was heartily wishing that they had followed Kitty's example and taken Kurt up on his offer of a courtesy *BAMPH* to school.
Arrival at Bayville High School was heralded by a chorus of relieved sighs, which was a pleasant change from the irregular cries of 'SCOTT!' and 'LOOK OUT!' and 'OH, GAWD! IF AH SURVIVE THIS, AH'M GONNA' /KILL/ YOU, SUMMERS!'
As soon as the car stopped in front of the school --Scott was attempting to play the perfect gentleman for Jean and so had decided to drop his passengers off at the door and park the car by himself--, Jean and Rogue each took several minutes to recover their breath. Yuusuke ignored the astonished looks of the two girls as he and Kurama, not even slightly out of breath, climbed calmly out of the car --Hiei merely vaulted out, disdaining to use such a mundane method of exit as a DOOR.
Jean and Rogue followed shortly after, still looking slightly shaky, and Scott waved jauntily at the auburn-haired young woman before driving away.
="Visor Boy's trying to win back his girl, I see,"= said Yuusuke, smiling. ="Sure you don't want to give him a run for his money, Kurama?"=
="I have enough things to worry about, thank you,= responded the redhead dryly.
Any further conversation was put on hold when Rogue turned to level an incredulous look at the trio.
"What ARE you?" she asked. "Ah've never seen anyone get through one of Shades' car rides without even staggerin' a bit! You supermen, or somethin'?"
="Or something,"= muttered Hiei.
"That was nothing." Yuusuke grinned at the pale girl. "I've got a friend that drives WAY worse than THAT."
Kurama laughed softly. =" . . . Botan's oar-rides DO tend to leave you somewhat disoriented,"= he murmured.
"Ah doubt that ANYONE could be worse than Shades," said Rogue.
"Come on," Jean interrupted, stepping between Rogue and the demons. "We need to get schedules for you three before anything else."
Yuusuke smirked. "Fun."
- : - : - : - : - : -
Lance leaned against one of the windows on the second-floor hallway, looking idly down upon the empty, silent school grounds. The tardy bell had rung a few short minutes ago, and almost all of the other students had disappeared into their respective classrooms. Behind him, Lance could hear the distinctive sounds of Fred 'The Blob' Dukes munching sloppily on a bag of potato chips procured from a nearby snack machine . . . free of charge, of course.
Pietro was standing near Lance, looking completely bored with his life, shifting from foot to foot, crossing and uncrossing his arms, tapping his fingers restlessly, and generally being his fidgety, irritated self.
"You have NO idea how lame this is to me, Lance," he muttered. "What happened to pestering X-geeks? Has this school become totally devoid of ANY form of entertainment, or what?"
"Toad hasn't shown up, yet," Lance reminded the silver-haired boy.
Pietro snorted. "Yeah, but so what? He was at the house this morning. What's the fuss?"
The crunching, munching sounds ceased momentarily. "Toad HAS been actin' weird," Fred commented.
"He never talks anymore," said Lance. "And have you noticed that he doesn't get in trouble, either?"
"I haven't been around his classes to see if he has or hasn't." Pietro's frown deepened. "What, he playing a goody-goody all of a sudden?"
"NO." Lance shook his head, absently scanning the hallways for anyone near enough to overhear their conversation. "He hasn't done anything to get INTO trouble in the first place, and that just isn't Toad."
"No, it isn't," Pietro agreed. He turned away, his eyes narrowing in thought.
Since Mystique had left her position as 'principle,' she was rarely around for them to use as a source of info, only showing up when Magneto had orders he needed fulfilled. She wouldn't have given a lone mission to Toad; he wasn't the solitary type . . . he needed a group to back him up, or else he was worthless in a real fight.
So . . . no mission. Maybe Frog-Boy was sick?
Nah, that couldn't be it, either. The night before, Todd had executed several amazing acrobatic stunts on his way through the kitchen during his escape attempt after snitching a sandwich from Fred --who was in close pursuit of the culprit at the time. No one Pietro knew could have managed three back-handsprings, a rebound off the fridge door, and a forward somersault with a twist and a round-off as a finale . . . all on a sour stomach.
Well, geeze, what could be wrong with the runt, then?
" . . . not very polite, Hiei . . ."
"Hn."
"C'mon, Kurama . . . you thought it was funny, too . . ."
Pietro's ears pricked at the sound of approaching voices, the Toad Problem momentarily pushed to the back of his thoughts. He glanced toward Lance and Fred; Fred hadn't noticed the voices over the sounds he was making during his pig-out session, but Lance met Pietro's gaze and nodded once, indicating that he had heard.
Pietro tilted his head to one side, frowning.
" . . . should show a BIT more restraint, both of you . . ."
The first voice: male, late teens . . .
"Hn. The way that YOU showed restraint earlier?"
Second: another male . . . but Pietro was unable to place the age.
"He's got a point, Kurama." The speaker raised his voice in a parody of a girl's, high pitched and dreamy. "'Oh, Shuichi! I LOVE your hair! HOW do you keep it so soft?' You practically bolted as soon as she shut up! Priceless!"
Third: another male, younger than the first, and packing a lot more attitude, judging by his flippant tone.
"Yuusuke . . . !"
"It's TRUE! You should have seen your face. Admit it, you wanted to Rose Whip her into Reikai."
A short pause. " . . . actually, I was considering the Death Tree."
"You would waste that much youki on a single human female?" Disgust was evident in the second speaker's tone. "Ch. Foxes . . ."
"I wouldn't've blamed you if you had, Kurama. I betcha' I could've gotten the toddler to cover for you."
"But she was a TEACHER!"
Pietro looked over to see Lance frowning, perplexed. The silver-haired boy was gratified to see that he wasn't the only one completely confused by the odd conversation.
Footsteps came ever closer, and three mismatched shadows fell on the tile floor as their owners neared the corner that shielded them from the Brotherhood of Mutants.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Yuusuke was grinning so widely that his face actually hurt.
Okay, so maybe it hadn't been the strangest thing he'd seen in his life, but it HAD been funny.
No, scratch that. The situation he had just been witness to had been HILARIOUS. Gut-busting, rib-wrenching, die-laughing hilarious.
Picking up their schedules had gone by without incident. The three demons had been pleased to find that the school had placed them all in the same classes to help them 'adjust' to the foreign school; as long as they kept up in class, there wouldn't be a problem.
The secretary was nice (in Kurama's case, a little TOO nice . . . THAT little incident had been entertaining as well), and the principle --Mr. Kelly-- had sent them several suspicious (and borderline vicious) looks upon hearing that they were rooming at the Xavier Institute, but everything went over relatively well.
They had managed to get away from Jean a few minutes before the first bell rang for class, and then they were all heading toward their new home room.
They picked desks as far back as they possibly could, Yuusuke and Kurama sitting so that they could buffer Hiei from the rest of the students (and vice versa), and Hiei had spent his time glaring at anyone who so much as glanced at him.
Kurama had drawn plenty of Looks from both females AND males since his arrival on campus, and it was all that Yuusuke could do to muffle his snickers at the kitsune's well-concealed (to human eyes) irritation. Yuusuke had decided that an innate fashion sense was part and parcel of being a fox-demon; Yuusuke was dressed in an old T-shirt and battered jeans, Hiei (having come without so much as an extra shirt) wore his usual black ensemble (minus the cloak and white scarf), and Kurama . . .
Kurama was dressed impeccably in jeans, a white undershirt, and a deep green button-up shirt that he had left hanging open.
For a short while at the beginning of class, Yuusuke had debated with himself whether or not it would be worthwhile to keep a tally of how many 'cute butt' comments the kitsune would draw by the end of the day.
Then the tardy bell had rung, and the fun REALLY began.
- : - : - Flashback - : - : -
The teacher frowned down at the class roll as her mouth moved slowly, trying to sound out the odd name.
"Ja . . . gan . . . shi . . . Hi . . . ei?"
It came out as 'Sha-gain-shee. Hai-ay.'
Hiei snorted contemptuously, and Yuusuke and Kurama exchanged an amused look.
The teacher fidgeted, pushing her glasses higher on her nose. "Is there anyone by that name here?"
Hiei had corrected her pronunciation of his name coolly. "Jaganshi Hiei."
"Oh, there you are. That's good. I . . ." She paused, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What--- What's that on your forehead?"
Hiei sneered. "A bandana, oban [1], what else would it be?"
"Well, take it off." The teacher frowned disapprovingly. "New student or not, no headgear of any kind is allowed inside school buildings, and that includes bandanas."
Hiei's eyes narrowed. He made no move to do as she had told him.
Yuusuke allowed himself a mental groan. There was a VERY limited number of people who could order Hiei to do something with impunity, and this female was NOT included in that select group.
="Hiei, please don't cause a scene,"= Kurama murmured.
The teacher was scowling indignantly at the small-statured demon, walking briskly down the aisle toward him.
="I'll deal with this how I please, fox."=
="Hiei!"=
The teacher's hand was stretching forth toward the offending band of white cloth. "When I say 'off,' mister, I mean OFF---"
Hiei's hand lashed around her wrist swifter than thought, and he somehow managed to extricate himself gracefully from the desk, rising to his feet without once removing his gaze from the startled teacher's face.
"Don't EVER touch me," he growled softly.
The entire class stared in fascination. Yuusuke for one was glad that no one from the Institute shared this particular class with them.
Yuusuke and Kurama slowly rose to their feet as well, wary of the explosive situation before them.
="Hiei . . . "= murmured Kurama warningly. ="Don't be rash."=
Yuusuke slid between Hiei and the teacher, laughing nervously. "Sorry, ma'am, you'll have to excuse my friend. He's got a few issues he needs to work out." He carefully extricated the stunned woman's wrist out of Hiei's iron grip, and Hiei allowed his hold to be broken. "That's really a bandage, you see . . . he tripped in the shower earlier this week, and he's been a bit irritable since then. I know you won't mind if we take him to see the councilor, now, right? Thanks, see you later!"
Kurama followed swiftly behind the two dark-haired demons (Yuusuke pulling Hiei along by one arm) as they made their escape from the crowded room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Hiei shook of the Toushin's grip, turning to snarl up at the taller boy.
"I. DON'T. /TRIP/."
- : - : - End Flashback - : - : -
Yuusuke folded his arms behind his head as the demonic trio wandered aimlessly down one of the school hallways. "Kurama, you worry WAY too much."
"We're supposed to be acting like normal kids. Skipping our FIRST CLASS on our FIRST DAY is NOT normal."
Yuusuke grinned, chuckling. "Hey, we said that we'd go to school. Nobody said anything about classes!"
Kurama sighed. "I doubt that our hosts will see it that way."
Yuusuke shrugged. "Hey, we'll just figure out which classes we have with people we know, and go to those classes with 'em. Then it'll look like we're model students."
They rounded a bend in the hallway, and the Reikai Tantei found themselves face-to-face with a trio that was nearly as odd as they were.
One was a boy with silver hair arranged in an odd, streamlined style, looking at them with a piercingly direct gaze. Second was a broad- shouldered boy with medium-length, dark brown hair, also staring at them.
The third was a mountain of a young man (more fat than man, if Yuusuke was any judge) with his hair cut in a mohawk, messily devouring a good-sized bag of potato chips.
"See?" Yuusuke turned slightly toward Kurama. "Told you that skipping was normal."
- : - : - To Be Continued . . . - : - : -
[1] Oban- Japanese: bitchy old hag
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry that it's short, but may I reiterate that I'm sick? I'm leaving now. Maybe next chapter will be longer (and posted sooner, hopefully *crosses fingers*).
- : - : - : - : - : -
Sorry, no review responses for this chapter. I'm only going to answer some questions that I thought were important, then I'm going to go load up on Benedril and collapse on the couch in a drugged stupor to ride out this stinking cold.
- : - : - : - : - : -
: takahashi shuurin : Feel free to explain the whole 'GENKAI LIVES!!!' thing to me the next time you review. And MANY, MANY, MANY thanks for your help with the translations. Don't worry, I'll stay away from 'aishite iru' and 'suki da yo' (sp?). I had no idea that 'I love you' was so . . . taboo, I suppose is the word I'm looking for. Being raised the way I have, a day doesn't go by that I don't tell my mom, brother, and dad that I love them, so it's really an odd concept for me. I think I'll use your first option, but sometimes I lean more toward the second. You'll have to wait and see which one I choose! Domo arigatou gozaimasu! (That IS right, correct?)
: Terris : You weren't imagining things. I went back and corrected my little boo-boo when you pointed it out to me. Thankies!
: Platinum1 : Do me a REALLY BIG favor and refer to the irritated, PMSing rant at the bottom of chapter 11. It still applies.
: carla : *huggles* I'm so HAPPY! I feel uberly loved. I'm really glad that you feel I am such a good writer. It's awesome when people tell me stuff like that, especially since I want to be a sci-fi/fantasy author when I graduate college! Yayness!
: Mistress of Dragons : *sighs* I would clarify the time period for you . . . if I could. I'm afraid that I'm gonna' be warping the X-men timeline all out of wack in the story. For all intents and purposes, let's say that people know that the X-men exist, but they don't know who the X-men are. Let's see if that works out . . .
: liz : Here's a review response for you, dearie. Hope you enjoy it. If you don't like my review responses, then just skip 'em and go to the next chapter, OK?
: lemmings_please : 1) Kurama and Yuusuke introduced Hiei to the X-men at the mansion, but aside from that . . . Hmm. I suppose that Koenma could have given Hiei ningen registration papers. I'll have to patch that little plot-hole when I go back and revise. 2) SO close . . . but not quite. ^_^
: Dragon Sythe : I actually looked up the tail thing on the internet, and it said that Kurama has five tails. The more powerful a fox-demon is, the more tails they have. Nine is the maximum, and I don't think that there are any nine-tailed kitsune around. Youko Kurama is uber powerful for a fox, and he's had a rough time of it. Someone would have to be way more powerful than him in order to survive long enough to grow nine tails. And yes, Yuusuke still has on the translator.
: O Demented ONe : Er . . . *hands over several doses of Valium* Get lots of rest, k?
: Lobo-Chan : I think I'll go with option #1, thanks. I don't write 'demented' very well. Thanks for the info!
: Gemini Star1 : Sickle moons are crescent moons. Go to http : / / physicsweb . org / box / news / 5 / 4 / 10 / 010410 (copy, paste, and remove the spaces). It's a very pretty picture. As far as Black Tempest and Shadow Tempest goes, I did that on purpose. When you translate between two languages, there's always going to be something twisted or altered in the process. In this case, 'black' got morphed into 'shadow.' Nothing major, but I thought that it would sound better in English as 'Shadow Tempest.'
: Evil Towel : Yep, the Mi'snarii flower is purely mine. Glad you liked it. And if you think that six-hour plane rides are long, try six-hour CAR rides. That's what I go through visiting MS. Yeesh. Already done it twice this week: once on Friday, once on Sunday. FUN. *note: heavy sarcasm on previous word*
: Greeneyes7 : No, he told her that he was a mutant. Sorry to disappoint.
: Kyandoru : *squirms uncomfortably* Well, Hiei IS half-koorime. What else am I supposed to call him? Half-breed? That'll go over REAL well. You want me to be decapitated ala katana or something? . . . Oh, well. I'll see what I can do.
: Karamas_Girl123 : Yuusuke IS part demon, so it's just his demonic blood coming to the fore. As far as his name goes, technically there are thousands of ways you can spell names from anime, since hiragana are symbols for phonetic sounds and not really letters. The extra 'u' in Yuusuke is just there for emphasis. Don't let it bother you.
: Yanslana : I'll be certain to put some of my favorite stories into my folder for you, k? Hope you like 'em. I tend to be picky about what I read, so they should meet your expectations as far as plot, characterization, and grammar goes.
: SelurOatNer : Interesting screen name. I think you're a bit mixed up, though. The Brotherhood is the group with Pietro, Lance, Fred, and Todd (Avalanche, Quicksilver, The Blob, and Toad). I think that you mean the Acolytes (Magneto's band of merry mutants). I won't be putting them in there because I don't know enough about their characters to write them well. Sorry.