The Terrible Enemy
Chapter five
By: Kowareta
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
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Most people who know or who have met Nakita could not fathom the concept that she never seemed to be angry. Ronjiru had a theory about this: Nakita had a whole universe inside her. Ignoring all the obvious fat jokes implied by such a theory, Ronjiru went on to say that whenever Nakita did get angry, she sent it to the beings of her universe. There they would grunt and drag the huge black blocks of anger to a depository--where those blocks spent their entire existence and polluted Nakita's inner universe.
This theory was mostly untrue.
Nakita was humble, self-sacrificing, polite, and generally able to ignore her greatest wishes. Behavior like this always led people to walk all over her. And there was a lot of Nakita, so there was a lot to walk over.
There was a long awkward moment where the primal part of Nakita's brain considered trumpeting like an elephant and stomping the Fangirl to the second dimension. Then her more reasonable, human, mind resurfaced.
"So," she said with the sound of someone who was trying to be enthusiastic while failing miserably. "The project?"
Sensing that the danger had passed, Seiryoku smiled. Kurama was sure his heart exploded. He discreetly checked his pulse.
The Fangirl smiled amiably and took her chance.
"Oh! Oh! Nakita, you're better!"
Kurama resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Did she really think he was stupid enough to fall for that? Though, Kurama hardly considered himself stupid, but that was beside the point.
Nakita raised an eyebrow for a moment.
"Er… right."
If possible, Seiryoku's smile widened even further. A satisfied wolf content to play the sheep.
They left and headed toward the large girl's house. Nakita led the way and easily parted the growing crowd on the sidewalks. Seiryoku clutched Kurama's arm. Nakita bit her tongue and marched forward. At some point along the way, the Fangirl commented, perhaps to draw Kurama's attention to Nakita's less than appealing body shape, "It's a good thing you're so large. We'd probably have lost each other in the crowd if it wasn't for your wake."
Unexpectedly, Nakita laughed wholeheartedly and said, "Yes, it's a pity we aren't all as large as I am. Otherwise we could just trudge through and people would dive out of our way for fear of being crushed by we three majesties of weight. We could even play a game called something like 'Fat Versus Thin: The Pancake Game.'" Nakita broke off at this point and murmured thoughtfully, "Actually, pancakes sound pretty good right about now…"
Seiryoku blinked. She didn't know whether to take that as an insult or not. Kurama couldn't decide either, which was a unique phenomenon.
The Fangirl let go of Kurama's arm and stopped.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Nakita's smile did not falter as she, too, stopped and faced her seedy companion. Her smile radiated nothing but simple warmth.
"Whatever you want it to I suppose. I'm not you so I can't tell you how to take it."
Now that his leech had finally let go, Kurama folded his arms over his chest, trying to convey the phrase, "Touch me and my Death Tree suddenly finds itself a snack."
The Fangirl frowned thoughtfully. She didn't like Nakita. First and foremost, she was fat. In Seiryoku's often thin opinion, fat people were stupid people because they didn't realize that eating so much made them that way. Had Nakita heard this, she would have responded by asking, in her gentlest, kindest voice, how much could Seiryoku know about fat people and their intelligence when she was, in fact, a thin one. She would have also gone on to say that if thin people knew they were thin, then obviously fat people knew they were fat. It's kind of hard to ignore one's body weight. Especially when one is living with it.
The other reason for Seiryoku's dislike of Nakita was a subconscious one. She felt rivalry. She felt the large girl's desire for Shuuichi--her Shuuichi! As the Alpha of the Fangirl pack, it was she who had to keep the others in line. Everyone could fantasize, so long as she kept it to herself and didn't dare make a move towards him. If they did, Seiryoku would strike her down. Instantly.
Nakita was a terrible enemy in the way that Seiryoku didn't know anything about her and yet somehow subconsciously felt she wouldn't back down.
The girls stared at each other for a long, drawn out minute--perhaps longer. Kurama could feel the growing tension and hard, stubborn determination. Seiryoku's eyes flashed with anger and though Nakita was smiling, looking for all the world like a planet at peace. He could feel her struggling will.
Finally, both looked away. Nakita somehow looked defeated.
"Anyway," began Nakita, "has anyone got any ideas for the project?"
Of course not, Kurama thought silently. It's a school project. We'll sit around awkwardly until something hits us, run with it although we know it is crap, and end up with a good grade anyway because everyone else in the class did the exact same thing.
Nakita's house was rather dumpy-looking. Which was really, thought Kurama, an understatement. It was shoved in-between two other buildings as if someone had realized one day that there was space between them and then decided to hastily plug it up with whatever they could find.
Seiryoku scoffed. Nakita grinned.
If Kurama were a person who often practiced self-pity, he'd have thought, why me?
---
There came a crackling noise.
"At first, we never intended to stalk him. We are lowly in our order. We have no right to stick our noses in business that should be left to those more experienced than we."
Autumn rain thundered down and the crackling noise continued as an object was passed between two tanned hands.
"But then we heard the rumors."
Crackle.
"Of course, we didn't believe them. No. That'd be heresy. But over the next couple of weeks we'd noticed that they did hang out with each other a lot. So we got concerned--worried even. Heresy or not, we have a mission to accomplish."
Rustle. Pass. Crackle.
"Our mission: Stalk Yusuke Urameshi in order to recover information on whether or not he's Shuuichi's gay lover."
Three girls stood under the eaves of a nearby building, talking into a tape recorder. One wore black from head to toe and had tied her brown hair into a braid. The other wore a large yellow raincoat and was scowling at something across the street. The last wore a mess of sweatpants and sweatshirts. If they hadn't a common goal, they'd be bitter enemies.
"But why Yusuke of all people?" whined the girl into the tape recorder. Her sweatshirts were soaked. "Haven't you heard what they say about him?"
"He's street trash," said the blonde in the raincoat, "with a reputation."
"A common thug with an uncommon skill in martial arts," muttered the girl in black.
"A demon," said the girl with the tape recorder.
"An assassin," commented the blonde.
"Lovechild of evil," confirmed brunette.
The girls nodded to themselves. They were Fangirls, of course, but they were on the bottom of its hierarchy. Freshman girls with an eye for Shuuichi who had not yet truly joined the enormous Fangirl horde. Rouge Fangirls--parasites on the body of a terrific beast.
On the opposite side of the street was an arcade they had seen Shuuichi's secret lover stride into. Determined to catch him on a date with Shuuichi, they figured that when he left it, the redhead would accompany him. So they waited, shivering in the cold and snapping at each other. It had been about an hour before they were fully prepared to storm the place.
As if on cue, Yusuke walked out. He was followed by a tall orange-haired boy. They seemed to be talking about something.
"Maybe he's going out with him," suggested the brunette.
"Maybe he's cheating on poor Shuuichi!"
"Maybe he's just going somewhere with a friend," commented the blonde. She was the most realistic of the three Fangirls.
In the end, they discarded that idea. The girls were convinced--through some type of great scientific process--that the dark-haired boy was somehow wronging Kurama.
The girls liked to think that they were skilled in stealth. They made sure to stay behind a group of people while observing the boys from the other side of the street.
It hadn't been the first time Yusuke and Kuwabara had been stalked--usually by their enemies--but it was remarkably noticeable when three girls jumped nervously behind people whenever they looked in their direction. Several minutes passed in silence before Kuwabara sighed.
"I wonder what they want."
"Not a date, I'll tell you that," grumbled Yusuke. "They've been following me since before I went to the arcade. They're wearing some pretty ugly scowls."
The taller teen nodded and watched a girl from a corner of his eye. She held an object up to her lips and started talking to it like a trusted friend.
"They're not demons," he noted. Yusuke nodded.
"Think we should give them the slip? Human or not, I don't appreciate it when people follow me uninvited."
Kuwabara inclined his head.
The boys took off. The girls sprinted after them.
The brunette grumbled, hitching up her long skirts so she didn't trip over them.
"Why on earth I chose to wear skirts today…"
Buildings flew past as people dove out of the way in face of three girls on a mission. Three girls on a mission is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The power of three, multiplied by obsession and rumor, unfolds all those annoying realistic things like manners and traffic rules.
The rain ceased as the boys ran into an alley and promptly disappeared leaving the girls panting and bewildered. The alleyway was clear even if the sky was obscured with oppressive gray clouds. Only dumpsters, trashcans, and dirty newspapers otherwise littered the path. The blonde blinked.
"Mika? You're in choir right?"
The girl in sweatpants nodded.
"Hit your highest note."
"Yes, Saeko."
It wasn't widely known, but Mika was a human weapon. With a voice like hers, anything within earshot would bolt away in a mad frenzy, and would tear apart any fellow escapee that impeded their flight. Over the years she'd gone to choir lessons in hope of improving her voice, but a very curious thing happened. Instead of getting better, her voice got worse. There would come a time a few years later in Mika's life where she would be accused of purposely causing earthquakes by singing. This couldn't be proven, of course, but it did give what was to be Mika's construction company a very healthy sum of money.
Saeko and the brunette covered their ears as Mika launched into song. It was a song that had been written by Mika, and had it been sung by anyone but her, it would have sounded beautiful. However, as things were, so many variations of mangled notes and wretched noises that even bats would be unable to hear were expelled from Mika's powerful lungs and mercilessly assaulted the unprotected ears of those nearby.
An awful howling and bellowing--which was like classical music compared to Mika's voice--came from behind a few trashcans beneath a fire escape.
Saeko and Mika kicked aside the cans to reveal two crouching boys.
Shuuichi's secret lover turned to the other and said, "Told you."
The taller boy retorted, "Next time we dive behind some trashcans to avoid some girls, I'll be sure to bring us some earmuffs as a defense. I'll let you borrow Shizuru's. They're pink."
Yusuke scowled.
The brunette accosted Yusuke, "Are you sleeping with Shuuichi?"
There's a little something in this world called being unobtrusive and indirect, which is otherwise known as tact. This girl clearly lacked in this aspect of higher communication.
Both Yusuke and Kuwabara goggled at the girl.
"Please answer!" said the girl in her most desperate and urgent voice. "We need to know!"
There comes a time in every person's life where there is a moment of tension. These times are usually recognized by the fact that they are strange, unexpected, and more importantly, uncomfortable. And they never provide the right answers.
"No?" answered Yusuke, confused. It appeared to him that whatever answer he might provide to these short, warlike girls, they would immediately shoot it down.
"Liar!" yelled the blonde. Yusuke's lips twisted into a bitter smile.
"Two-timer!" exclaimed Mika. The boys winced. Kuwabara was sure one of his ears was bleeding.
The brunette sized up Kuwabara then turned back to Yusuke. "What's the matter? Not getting enough from Shuuichi?"
There also comes a time in everyone's life where one's brain completely ceases to function.
The boys stared at each other while the girls' eyes glittered dangerously. The muscles in Yusuke's face died completely as he continued to stare blankly. His mind spun off into the land of no return. Kuwabara finally reacted.
"Oh," he said. It was the type of expression that seemed to go on forever as if signifying that its owner was coming to realize what exactly had been said. It was the type of "Oh" that sounded like a moaning cow. Or at least the type of cow who said "Oh" in the face of slaughter.
"He has a girlfriend," he tried to explain.
Yusuke's mind found itself as Kuwabara said this and he snapped, "Keiko is not my girlfriend! She's just a friend!"
"Who's going to be your girlfriend as soon as you're man enough to actually ask her."
The girls' eyes widened.
"You're three-timing!"
"I am not!"
"Are too! What do you call sleeping with Shuuichi, this guy, and your girlfriend, all at the same time?"
"One hell of a party."
This time it was the girls' turn to stare.
"What?"
Yusuke scratched his head, "How else was I supposed to answer that? I'm not going out with Shuuichi. I'm not going out with Kuwabara. And I haven't even asked the girl I like if she'll go out with me. Any time I tell you you've got it wrong, you just make it worse."
They stared at him, stubborn and unblinking.
"Yoshiko?"
The brunette turned to fact the entrance of the alleyway to see an Asian-looking girl.
"Pan?"
The girl nodded, silently. She had been on her way to meet the school newspaper editing staff on Seiryoku's orders. Her eyes traveled from Yoshiko to the boys, to the other girls, and then back to Yoshiko.
"What's going on?"
Saeko shoved Yusuke's shoulder, "We're liberating Shuuichi from the wicked claws of his three-timing boyfriend!"
Yusuke pitched a trashcan at her.
"I'm not dating anyone!" he raged. "Especially not my friends!"
Kuwabara physically restrained his friend when he tried to kick a small black alley cat.
"Stop," he growled, ready to knock Yusuke's head off if he dared to attack a cat again. Yusuke continued to assault inanimate objects as the girls watched, bemused.
"He's with Shuuichi?" Pan blinked, then smiled. To this point in her life, Pan had never had an interest in boys or girls. This being the case, she saw the world free of attachments. She was, however, a wicked girl whose hobby was toying with other people's emotions.
"I think Shuuichi is cheating on you," Pan told Yusuke--drawing the same misconception the rogue Fangirls had. She took out a copy of the picture she'd taken that afternoon and held it out to him. Confused, angry, stressed, and fuming, Yusuke plucked the photo from her hand. One glance later he was completely floored. Kuwabara felt the same way when he leaned over Yusuke's shoulder to look.
The blonde gently tugged the photo from the black-haired teen's hand. She gasped.
"No way!"
She passed it to the other two girls. Saeko turned to Yusuke and tenderly patted his arm.
"I'm sorry. I know we haven't known each other very long," she shook her head sagely, "but no one, not even you, deserves to be hurt like this."
Still angry, still confused, and now slightly shocked, Kuwabara noticed that Yusuke seemed ready to spirit gun the hell out of the next object that more or less implied that he has a relationship with anything.
Each girl gave her deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Yusuke. Now that the effect of the power of three had disappeared with the arrival of Pan, reality--meaning the place where Yusuke can enjoy sanity and drivers don't have to worry about maniac girls appearing out of nowhere--could restore itself. The rogue Fangirls left and Pan looked the boys up and down again.
"You can keep the picture. I have copies that I'm going to submit to the school newspaper," she said, grinning. "It'll help you justify breaking up with him."
Pan met a rather painful fate. Yusuke's fist sailed into Pan's stomach.
"Urameshi!" yelped Kuwabara, aghast as he watched Pan soar through the air inelegantly.
"Don't worry," mumbled Yusuke, miffed. "I didn't break any bones."
Kuwabara was going to inform Yusuke that he was missing the point and it was the principle of the act, but he decided against it and asked, "So… when are you going to ask her?"
Yusuke started to pummel Kuwabara. The orange-haired boy laughed and cuffed his friend around the ear. Passers-by stared as they scurried past.
When they were finished, Yusuke turned to Kuwabara, picture in hand.
"Normally I couldn't care less what Kurama does with girls in his free time, but now that his problems have become our problems, we need to do something."
Kuwabara nodded.
This was the source, he told himself. The source of the ill-winds and ghostly revolution. The terrible evil; the great power. He gritted his teeth and sighed.
Fangirls…
---
"Botan."
The ferry girl jumped. Slowly, she turned around and there, standing almost innocently, was Keiko. She was dressed in casual, non-menacing clothes, but somehow the blue-haired girl couldn't help but feel intimidated. The game was up. She'd found her. Caught downtown right after the rain left her in a very frightening predicament. The glaringly tall buildings belittled her even more as if Keiko's presence had them under her command.
Botan felt a cold shock of fear jolt through her as she watched Keiko smile, give a small wave, and take a step towards her. She shivered. An imminent peril approached in the guise of a human-shaped schoolgirl. Keiko had some uncanny ability to locate people who didn't want to be found. Botan knew that the end of her existence would someday come, but she had hoped that it would have come later. It was time to face fate.
As the expression goes, Botan was between a rock and a hard place. While Botan didn't really like to use that expression because she firmly believed that a rock and a hard place were practically the same thing, she at least understood the metaphor.
"Oh, hello Keiko!" exclaimed the ferry girl with false cheer.
The schoolgirl glanced at the store window that they happened to be standing in front of. In the display, posing mannequins were dressed in colorful shawls and European dresses. Keiko planted her hands firmly on her hips. The blue-haired girl knew what she was going to ask. And she winced.
"I saw you talking with one of Yusuke's friends. The short one. And I've noticed that Yusuke's been acting weird lately. Is he on another mission? If he is, you can tell me."
Botan blinked. Oh, snap! Keiko had seen her telling Hiei about Yusuke's next case. Though case wasn't the word Botan would use because it mostly detailed kicking around a few stray demons in the area that were causing trouble. No harm really. Could probably done in less than an hour if the whole team working on the mission.
The ferry girl blinked. But she told Hiei early that afternoon and that was nearly two hours ago. How long had Keiko been following her?
It was then that Botan come across the strange suspicion that there was more to Keiko than met the eye.
The schoolgirl stared at her unnervingly as Botan twiddled her thumbs.
"Yes," she answered truthfully after a few long moments, "but it's not like the last one."
Keiko nodded.
"Good," she said curtly, surprising Botan. "At least someone here is capable of telling the truth."
The brown-haired girl had noticed the way Kuwabara had fumbled with his words and the way he had acted. She knew that whenever anything awkward happened, it was usually because Yusuke didn't want her to know something. And that something usually meant that he was about to run off and complete a case without telling her. He also tended to avoid her at times like these, which he was doing now.
But if it was as a simple case as Botan said it was, what could possibly cause Yusuke and Kuwabara to act so awkwardly around her?
Determined to get to the bottom of it, she made up her mind to get it out of Yusuke tomorrow at the matsuri.
She spent the rest of the day with Botan window-shopping and talking about various things until the ferry girl had to return to work. Botan was happy that Keiko wasn't about to get scary on her like she and Shizuru had before the Dark Tournament. What a relief! It was then Botan realized that she had been worried for nothing. Next time she would even be sure to spare some time to tell Keiko about the next case too. That is, if Koenma would allow it. She left Keiko on a happy note, waving a cheerful goodbye. She'd also winked and said that she'd smack Yusuke over the head with her oar if he didn't start being direct with her.
When she was gone, Keiko reflected as she walked home. She liked Botan. She was a really good friend, but the school girl suspected something unknown to her was going on between them. What if they…?
No. Of course not.
Keiko walked down the sidewalk, free of the usual crowds at this time of day, and glanced at the sky wondering: Why are there so many clouds?
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