A/n- Finally got around to writing this... This chapter turned out to be really long. I'll try my best to get these out faster!
Chapter Seven: Date with a Spirit Detective
Quietly, Avari opened her amethyst eyes and sat up in her bed. She looked over at her bedside table to check the time. On her alarm clock, in glowing green were the numbers 11:00. She crept out of her bed and walked over to the window.
Avari situated herself Indian style on the cushioned window seat. She pulled back the long and lacy lilac curtains to reveal brilliant, shining sunlight that poured into the room. Her whole face was lit up by it as she peered out onto the outside world.
The scene was spectacular. The serene, blue sky; the warm sun shedding its radiance on the earth; the crisp leaves of captivating colors still clinging to the trees' branches. She cracked the window open a little. Instantly, she felt a rush of cool, fresh air blow in. A chill went down her spine causing her to smile. It was all so perfect. Perfect for her day with Yusuke.
After a few more moments of contemplation and meditation, Avari snapped out of her daze and shut the window. Slipping into her lavender bathrobe, Avari walked out of her room and proceeded in going down the hallway. Almost instantly, her nose caught a whiff of a strong, yet relaxing scent. It was the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
The fragrance soothed her and filled her with a tranquil feeling. It reminded her of those mornings, back when her parents were alive, that she would wake up to the same smell and walk down into the kitchen to find her parents sitting at the table. They would happily greet her and start a brand new day. She only wished she could go back to one of those mornings and relive it again and again. She wanted to go back to hug her mother one last time and hear her father call her "sunshine." But, that would never happen... Those mornings were gone forever. Lost in the pool of time and never to return again.
A silent tear ran down her cheek. It was followed by a few others, before she quickly wiped them away. Those memories were in her past and would only bring her grief. She needed to be strong and live in the present, not dwell on the past.
The silver-haired girl continued following the scent all the way down the hall.
"Good morning, Aunt Gen-" Avari said as she was entered the kitchen,"-kai…?" She had expected Genkai to be sitting at the table, but she wasn't. In fact, she wasn't anywhere in the kitchen.
A piece of paper with some scribbled writing on it caught Avari's attention. She picked it up and read:
Hey Avi-chan!
Went to the Martial Arts Championships at the Tokyo Dome. I've got ringside seats. XD Would've asked you to come, but I knew you'd never give up your date. Have fun with the dimwit. Be back at sundown.
-Aunt Genkai
"I should've known... That would be one of the only things she'd cancel training sessions for," Avari thought out loud.
She shrugged it off and went over to the coffee pot to get some much-wanted coffee.
-One hour later-
Avari looked up at the ticking clock. It read 12:00 noon. She got up from the kitchen table, where she had just finished eating her eggs and pancakes, and walked back to her room.
After grabbing some towels from the linen closet, she took a quick shower and went back into the lavender room. She opened her closet and looked around. What was she going to wear? Decisions, decisions...
About 20 minutes and 9 outfits later, Avari finally chose to make it easy on herself and wear a light pink hoodie, dark blue jeans and pink stripped adidas.
Hastily, she fixed her hair and went to her full-length mirror to inspect herself. She took a good long look at herself in the mirror before she concluded that she looked okay. Normally, Avari wouldn't spend so much time in front of the mirror, but today, she wanted to take special notice of what she looked like.
Once more, she glanced into the mirror before grabbing her compact (that she used to contact Koenma) and leaving her room to go out on the porch to wait for Yusuke.
-On the porch-
Avari sat down on the stairs and waited for Yusuke to arrive. In the meantime, she looked around as a few autumn leaves fell from a tree. A wind kicked up, causing the leaves to blow in a circle as if they were stuck in a mini tornado.
Only moments later, Avari saw Yusuke coming up the last few steps that led up to the temple. She smiled. He reached the last step and walked across the courtyard to where Avari was seated. He smiled at her.
"Ready to go?" Yusuke said, as he put his hands in his pockets.
"Yup," Avari replied and got up from the steps. She followed after Yusuke who had just turned around and started walking back toward the many steps that led down from the temple and the courtyard.
"So, where to? We could try the arcade or something if you want," Yusuke asked. They were just now finished climbing down the ongoing steps of the temple.
"Arcade sounds good. I haven't played video games since I got here," Avari said.
"Arcade it is," Yusuke said with a smirk.
Yusuke led the way to the arcade and all the way there, they kept a steady conversation. It started out with Avari mentioning that Genkai had gone to the Martial Arts Championships and ended with them arguing about whether ligers existed or not. Who knows how that happened!
"Ligers do so exist! They're a mix between a male lion and a female tiger!" Avari argued. A sign with flashing lights saying "Arcade Adventure" was visible in the distance now.
"We're almost there," Yusuke said.
"Finally!" Avari said and breathed out a heavy sigh. "It sure took us a long time to get here!"
"It's worth the walk. This arcade has all the best games," Yusuke said and ran ahead to the arcade that was now only 20 feet away.
"Hey! Wait for me, Yusuke!" Avari yelled at the dimwitted teen and ran after him. She stopped once she reached the entrance of the arcade, as Yusuke had and walked inside.
Inside the arcade, it was like every video gamers' heaven. There were literally 100 different games to choose from. The whole entire space was filled with the sounds of game music, voices saying "Game Over", random beeping noises and so on.
"Where to first?" Yusuke asked looking over at Avari, who was standing there just staring at the bustling room in awe.
"Uhh... I don't know..." Avari said. She looked around and spotted a DDR game. "Oh! Let's play DDR!" Quickly, she ran over to the DDR machine and inserted the required coins. Yusuke chased after her.
For a good three hours, the two arcade game-crazed teens ran around the arcade playing game after game after game. Pretty soon, Yusuke started to feel hungry and looked at his watch.
"Whoa! It's already 4:30! Damn, we've been here a long time," Yusuke said to Avari, who was just finishing up her 12th time of playing DDR. "Wanna go get something to eat?"
The game ended and Avari got off the machine. "Good idea. Breakfast was a long time ago," Avari said.
They both left the arcade and walked down the street for a couple blocks. Once they had walked 3 blocks from the arcade, Avari noticed a familiar face in the distance.
"Hey, Yusuke! Isn't that Keiko!" Avari said as she pointed at a brown haired girl looking in a shop window about 30 feet in front of them.
At hearing the last word, Yusuke's eyes widened in surprise. Hurriedly, he grabbed Avari's hand and dragged her into a nearby alley. Avari gave Yusuke a questionable look. She was about to ask Yusuke what he had done that for, but he put his index finger on his lips to signal for her to be quiet. Just then, Keiko walked down the sidewalk and passed by the entrance to the alley.
"What was that all about?" Avari asked curiously, when she thought Keiko was far enough away to not hear her.
"I guess I better get straight to it," the spirit detective said with a sigh. "I used to date Keiko, but then she started being a bitch, so I broke up with her. We're still friends though. I just didn't want her to get mad and hate me or you when she saw us together, alright?"
"Okay. That an understandable reason, but you do realize you're going to have to tell her sooner or later?" Avari said.
Yusuke nodded. "I just don't want to deal with it at the moment," he said.
"Alright," Avari said. "Now, can we please get out of this alley and get some food?"
"Sure. There's a really great ice cream parlor 2 blocks up that I think you'll like," Yusuke said. He took Avari's hand and led her out of the alley and to the ice cream parlor.
-In the Ice Cream Parlor-
"Whoa! I didn't know there could be so many different kinds of ice cream!" Avari exclaimed when she walked in and saw the ice cream menu. There had to be at least 300 different flavors, from your basic Vanilla to Double Fudge Brownie Peanut Surprise.
"Pick anything you like," Yusuke said.
"That's going to be a tough decision..." Avari said, still looking at the menu.
It took a little while, but in the end, Yusuke got a cone of Rocky Road and Avari got a cone of Double Fudge Ripple. They walked out of the ice cream parlor happily with their ice cream cones. When they were done, Yusuke took Avari's hand and led her to the park.
At the park, they walked down the sidewalk hand in hand in complete silence, just enjoying one another's company. When they got tired of walking, they took a seat on a bench under an oak tree. Yusuke put his arm around Avari and Avari rested her head on his shoulder. It was an adorable sight. Yusuke was about to lean in to kiss Avari, when he heard a ringing sound.
"Uhh, Avari?" Yusuke said, bringing his head back up. "Your pants are ringing."
"I knew that," she said and took her compact out of her pocket. She flipped it open and Koenma's face appeared on the screen. "What do you want, pacifier-sucker?" Avari said carelessly.
"Have some respect for your elders, Avari," Koenma said sounding annoyed by what Avari had just called him.
"Oh, hey toddler bitch! How's it shaking? Long time no see," Yusuke said looking at the compact screen. "Now, would you mind telling us what the hell it is that you want? You were interrupting something important."
"I need Avari to come to Spirit World immediately. I'll tell you more once you get here. You can come along too, Yusuke," Koenma said. "I'm setting up a portal now. See you then!"
Avari closed the compact. "Note to self: Never bring your compact on a date," Avari said angrily. "Why does that baby always have to ruin everything!"
"I don't think he ruined everything," Yusuke said with a smile. He leaned in and pressed his lips softly and gently on Avari's. The kiss was innocent and delightful. It tasted sweet like honey. Yusuke longed for more, as did Avari, but at that precise moment, a portal appeared right in front of them. They both broke apart and stood up.
"I guess its off to Spirit World," Avari said as she jumped into the portal.
"Jeranamo!" Yusuke yelled as he jumped into the portal after Avari to go meet with the Toddler Prince of Spirit World.
-----And that's the chapter! Why did Koenma call Avari and Yusuke to Spirit World? Does a mission await them? And how did Genkai like the Martial Arts Championships? Find the answers to these and other questions in the next chapter of... The Power Locked Within!