Insaneningen14: KATIE! WHERE WERE YOU! (HUG) I missed you… no one to annoy. (smile, smile) thanks.
Chapter 8:
Kurama let himself into the house, having borrowed a set of keys from Koenma. Setting Yuki up in her bedroom, he left quietly, closing and securing the door behind him.
"What are you doing."
He smiled. "Hello Hiei."
Hiei jumped down. "What's her problem?"
"Yuki just got a lot of tests done- she's tired out. Jiro is out working for Reikai. Koenma had me come and bring her home."
"Hn."
"So. When I asked, she told me what she said to you. About you and the Koorime."
Glare.
"No one I know has ever been to say that without giving their life- in fact, none have said it. Why?"
"…Reikai Prison…"
"I have the feeling that that's not the only reason Hiei."
"Shut up."
"Hiei, she is a Forbidden. A Conflicting. You should listen to her."
"I don't need to listen to anyone. Nobody commands me."
"Except Koenma."
"Kurama." Hiei's voice was low, warning the redhead to tread even more carefully.
"She said, that she had heard more Forbiddens, more Conflictors. In pain and suffering because of her father."
"Hn."
"But she's not like you- not like you in the remotest sense. She hasn't shut herself away."
"If you are going to continue talking like her, then you can shut up," snapped Hiei. "I did what was right for me."
"How do you know?" Emerald eyes watched the fire apparition. He was gone with a whoosh, leaving Kurama behind to smile. Shaking his head, the fox continued on his way home.
-(Yuki)-
Yuki woke up in the morning, slightly more invigorated, but her arms still aching from multiple shots. Making her bed, she went out into the living room. 'Kami, this place is messy… I should help clean up- I am intruding upon his hospitality after all.'
Sorting trash from stuff to be kept quietly as possible (hearing Jiro snore), she piled the rubbish in the center, the room looking considerably cleaner. She moved throughout the house, excluding Jiro's and her room, gathering the trash and putting it in a large garbage bag.
"Ouch!" A shard of glass had embedded itself in the skin of her hand. Hissing in pain, she pulled it out.
Just before it exploded into even smaller pieces.
"Oh come on!" She washed her hand out in the kitchen sink, the bleeding slowing to a small trickle. 'Where are the bandaids?' Jiro had never dispensed this information, probably not thinking that she needed it. Looking in some rooms, opening the door of each and peering in, she came upon a room unlike any other.
Broken glass littered the floor, either brown colored or clear. Blood seemed to be smeared against the walls, brown and rust colored, shed a long time ago. A thin layer of dust on top of the glass lay there, disturbed by her entrance. There was one hole-filled sofa, covered in shards, and a small cabinet at the end of the room. The window was dirty and had a torn cloth covering it up partially, letting in some light to illuminate the dim room.
'Oh Kami…' Yuki stepped across the floor, ignoring the pain flaring up in her feet, the glass puncturing the delicate skin. Reaching the other side, she pulled aside the curtain to admit more light. The rays lit up more rusty marks on the wall near the door, in the shapes of words.
HELL
She shuddered. Turning to the cabinet, which was around the size of her, she opened the doors.
The closet was filled to the brim with bottles. She hadn't tried the contents before, but she did read the labels. 'Corona Beer,' 'Bacardi Rum,' and 'Vodka' were what some of the labels read. A sniff from a bottle she opened made her head reel.
'Alcohol,' Yuki thought bitterly, dropping the bottle with a thump and crash, letting it smash on the floor and spatter her with the beer from the waist down.
Toppling over more bottles, letting them break and splash at her feet, she saw something different in the back of the cabinet.
A small dirty, leather book.
Pulling it out, she began to take in the contents. Pictures of a young women, and (she supposed) a young version of Jiro. The women was a brunette, possessing chocolate brown hair passing her shoulders, also having eyes the same color. She was smiling happily up at Jiro usually, who in return, grinned back. Flipping through the rest of the pictures, she came to the back. A picture ripped in half, only showing that young women, this time dressed more fancily, and sitting at a table with someone else. Something was scratched out on the back cover though. She squinted to see.
A. A curling letter A. And a J.
A & J
A & J. The J stood for Jiro, she assumed. The A was for the young women. Hiding the album again in the back, and trying to hide the reduced numbers of bottles, she closed the cabinet doors and quit the room.
Quickly going into the bathroom and using the white towels to wrap her feet, she got out the peroxide to clean the bloodstains off the floor where she had tread, and to clean out her cuts. She had also discovered the bandages and such in the same place as the peroxide, and had wrapped her feet. Putting socks over the mess, she hid them, but they did look a bit larger compared to her normal foot size… no matter, nobody could see the bandages.
It was already noon, and Yuki had not had any meal since yesterday. Jiro had still not woken up. She knew he had come back well past the time she had, which was around one in the morning, so he must be tired.
Polite knocking interrupted her, and she hurried to answer the door. Peeking through to see Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Botan, and another girl on the doorstep. She let them in with a smile.
"Yuki-chan!" Botan hugged her enthusiastically.
"Nice to see ya again." Yusuke mussed her hair, which was now always adorned with Jiro's gift on her first day of school. "You alright?" She nodded, smiling, now being hugged by Keiko as well.
"Hey Yuki!" She was now being hailed by Kuwabara. "This is my sister, Shizuru!" The new girl nodded- she did not resemble her brother much, having brown hair and eyes. Although she did not have a cigarette in her mouth, Yuki could smell the odor or the smoke.
"Nice to meet you, Shizuru-san." Yuki bowed as best could be. "Please, make yourself comfortable. Jiro is still resting in his bedroom."
"Yuki! You did wonders to this house!" exclaimed Botan. "It's so much neater!"
"I organized some rooms this morning." Yuki smiled at Kurama in acknowledgement. "Would any of you like anything to drink?"
"Nah, we're fine." Yusuke shook his head.
"We just wanted to know if you could go out with us today, seeing as it is Saturday and we're going to the mall," input Keiko.
"Ah, I don't know. I'll have to tell Jiro when he wakes up…"
"Just leave him a note," suggested Shizuru. "And leave it someplace where he'll find it."
"Okay." She obeyed, leaving it taped to the kitchen fridge. After having them file out, she locked the house behind her, sticking her keys in the pocket of her thin, unzipped, dark grey jacket that went an inch or so below her hips, also wearing crimson cargo pants and a white t-shirt. Her white sneakers and socks covered her feet, much to her relief. (Since it was fall, it was cool and breezy out)
"Shizuru has a license, so she'll drive us to the mall," chirped Botan. "So all aboard everyone!" They did so, all fitting into her white Tahoe. When they got there, Botan and Keiko made a beeline for the clothing stores. Yusuke and Kuwabara probably had gone to the electronics store with Kurama to watch over them, looking for more games, leaving Shizuru and Yuki together.
"Not much of a shopper?" Shizuru took a cigarette out and started smoking.
"I guess not." The smoke made her stomach turn slightly. Shizuru noticed this, and positioned herself so that the wind would blow the smoke away from Yuki.
"Kazuma told me about you and the problems you have. Did Koenma find you a solution yet?"
"No. We just discovered the cause of it. But I think he might start me off on training and containing my powers."
"Hm." She took another drag from the cigar. "Training hunh? You'll need a weapon for that. Follow me." She took off at a brisk pace, Yuki following. They were walking out of the mall, and onto the crowded parts of Tokyo.
"Shizuru?"
"Don't worry." She smirked. "You think that they would have allowed a weapons store in a mall?"
"No…"
"Thought so. Come on." Now they traveled into more deserted areas. "Here." Yuki entered a small shop located next to a dark alleyway after Shizuru.
The walls were covered with weapons. On the wall with the door hung all sorts of guns, some old and some new (she saw a rifle hanging at the bottom, next to some silver pistols). Another had all swords, multiple lengths and weights. The other had a multiple assortments, usually ones that ninjas had used ages ago.
"Can I help you?" Yuki whirled around to face her guardian, grinning behind the counter.
"Jii-san!"
"Yup." He walked out from behind it, nodding to Shizuru, whom he obviously knew. "I thought you were at the mall."
"Shizuru took me here after she heard I would need training."
"Ah. Understandable." He glanced at Shizuru again. "So, what kind of weapon do you particularly like Yun-chan? (1)"
"No guns," input Shizuru. "Firearms won't affect some demons. And you have to reload them."
"Katana?" Jiro handed her one. It was made of pale steel, and the handle fit her hand perfectly, the hilt leaving enough room for comfort.
"It's a bit… I don't know, I just don't like it." (AN: hah! You thought she'd be like Hiei and go for the sword!)
"Hm, is it too long? Try this wakizashi (2)." It was practically a copy of the katana, except the blade was shorter.
"I don't think swords are for her," said Shizuru, looking at Yuki's facial expression. "Besides, we already got one sword wielding demon."
"Okay, okay." He took out a box. "Shuriken? (3)"
"Nah, you'll run out of those eventually," she interrupted again. "Easy to miss and lose."
"Sai? (4)" He held out a pair of them. Yuki took them gently, holding them carefully, wary of the six sharp prongs. "Try it," he said, indicating the wall.
Throwing one, she lodged it in part of the wall near Shizuru. Nervously she put the other one down. "I don't think I can use them effectively…"
Jiro examined her closely. "Your harder than most of my customers." He nodded to himself as he thought. "I know. Wait here." He disappeared into the back of his store.
Shizuru muttered to herself. "Hm, either a kama, a whip, the fan or… oh, I know." She grinned.
"What?" Yuki was clearly baffled.
"You'll see." She nodded, indicating Yuki to turn and look behind her. She did so, seeing Jiro emerge, holding a long weapon. A long, straight, thin wooden handle, about five feet in length, ended in a curved blade made out of fine steel (the whole composition a little less than seven feet lengthwise).
"Naginata." He handed it to her. "It's accommodated for your height, slightly smaller than most. (5) Nice weight too," he added. "I think this would suit you best."
"I like it." She spun it carefully, wary of her two companions.
"The weight's balanced out so that the blade will weigh slightly more than the pole." He grinned. "And it's specially made for infusing energy into it- very durable."
"How much is it?" Yuki asked worriedly.
He shook his head. "I'd be a pretty stingy person if I made you pay for that, after all the work you did on the house and me being your guardian after all."
"But-"
"Just take it."
"Thank you very much Jii-san!" She hugged him ferociously. He patted her head absentmindedly.
"Good, good. Just let me wrap it up- you'll get a lot of stares if you carry a blade out in public uncovered and all." She let him go with a grin.
"Thank you for taking me here Shizuru." Yuki also doled out a hug to her new friend.
"'Welcome." Shizuru took a drag. "Hope you like your new toy."
Jiro sighed. "Shizuru, no smoking in the store. You know I don't like the fumes."
"I on the other hand don't trust air I can't see." She put it out. "But it is your shop," she admitted grudgingly.
"Thank you." Jiro finished wrapping it up, handing it to Yuki. "Be careful about the blade. Now." Jiro blew a whisp of hair out of his eye. "Where did you leave the others?"
"Oops…"
"At the mall…"
He sighed. 'Any minute they'll come looking for them.'
: End Chapter
(1) I got that nickname from Fruits Basket- I remember Kagura called Yuki that before. And yes, Yuki is usually a boy's name, but Yuki sounds better than Yukiko (girl form of Yuki).
(2) short sword
(3) throwing stars
(4) that little three-pronged fork thing, like what one of the ninja turtles has…
(5) I just made that up
Insaneningen14: major note: I will put the web address of the picture of how Yuki and her naginata look up on my fanfiction profile, right next to how Yuki looks with her hair cut. Please go and look there-
Miharu34: five reviews.