Disclaimer Don't remind me!
A/N I'm sad! I'm 3 reviews short of last chapters goal! T.T I think (sniff) that maybe (sniff) I'll live. (pause) (wail) Oh Kurama, hold me!
Kurama: o.o; (flees)
Okay, enough of that. XP I'm glad that everyone liked the last chapter, thankee for the wonderful reviews. :D (I'm happy if I just get one, don't really take me for serious up there, lol) You all get cyber cookies anyway, just cause it's turkey-time! Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone!
I also have to mention that in chapter 3 there happens to be two mistakes. AsterRaven informed me of one.
Aster: Red! Kurama is a i silver /i fox, damnit! (beats me mercilessly)
Yeah. -.-;;
The other is--well, I'm not going to say. (mwhaha!) It's nothing about hair color, and it's not grammatical (punctuation,. misspelling, etc.). If you find it then... well, I dunno. Ask and maybe you'll recieve:P I just thought I'd mention because it is kinda funny. (heh)
But who the hell cares about that, it's chapter time!
Life Goes On
By: SunshineandDaisys
Chapter
6: Not A Resort
Jess had come to terms with the fact that anything involving Kurama would not be simple. It had been obvious from the first time they talked, and she had been reassured several times over since that day in town. So it made all the sense in the world that a guy like Kurama would live in a palace.
But when he'd said 'palace', she'd pictured the Taj Mahal, not the phenomenally enormous structure that stood before her. The building spanned further to the sides than her vision allowed her to see, and where it ended vertically was a question shrouded in mist.
This sight, paired with the insanity that had ensued on the trip here, was enough to make her sway on her feet. It was a reaction she didn't relish since the section of ground they stood on was not easily described as "large".
'I've never been sick from traveling,' she thought miserably, still trying not to stumble. 'Then again, I've never been on a trip like that before...'
"Okay, this will sound a lot worse than it is." Botan began with a tense smile. "Sit on this end of the paddle sideways and hold on very tightly."
"You're not serious." Jess gave the blue-haired girl and her mode of transportation dubious looks. Riding on a five-inch thick wooden paddle? Homie didn't play that.
"Actually, she is," Yusuke came up from behind and placed his hand on her shoulder. "And just in case you lose your grip and start plummeting to your doom, Kuwabara and I will be there to catch you."
"More like your weak human selves can't interworld-transport like Kurama and I," Hiei sneered.
"I was trying to sound chummy, Hiei. Thanks."
The fire demon tilted his head in a very 'sure thing, dumbass' kind of way. Jessica sighed.
"Lets just go before my mother decides to turn my light off herself."
After a collective nod, Kurama shot her a brief look. It could've been amusement or pity, possibly even both, but before it could be deciphered, he vanished. She directed her eyes to the other side of the room to find that Hiei had also gone. Botan hopped onto her paddle, and instantly it levitated four feet off the ground.
"Don't worry about them," Yusuke said, taking a seat behind Botan. "We'll all end up in the same place."
"Yeah," Kuwabara added. "And don't listen to Urameshi about falling - you'll be safe with us. I'll sit on the end, and you can be in the middle."
Still a little unsure about the amount of butt space she was going to have, Jess slipped her backpack on and sat between the two boys. Despite Kurama saying she didn't need it, the bag gave her a small sense of familiarity.
Giving her room one last look, she swallowed. This... was most assuredly it.
"Hold on tight!" Botan exclaimed a little too loudly, and Jess flinched. Not that it mattered, because instants later they appeared outside, fifty feet above her house and rapidly gaining more air.
Sshhhiiit! " Jess squeaked, gripping the small wooden bar tightly as her stomach launched itself into her throat.
"She said hold on for a reason," Yusuke laughed as the cool night air whipped around them. "Don't you like roller coasters?"
"Yeah, but they have restraining bars!"
"True."
The ground below gave way to a large amount of water, and Jessica could only cringe at the speed they must have been traveling. They'd already reached the Pacific! While the blood racing in her veins was thrilling, it was also alarming. She'd never been at this altitude in her life. Her family had always opted for a road trip versus flying in an airplane.
"Here we go!" Botan yelled over the wind whistling by them. The temperature of the wind was much lower over the ocean, and it stung with an icy chill. "We're going into the portal!"
Yusuke and Kuwabara simultaneously gripped the hand of hers closest to them, causing Jess to start to inquire as to why this "portal" was such a big deal. But before she spoke, the paddle accelerated to a speed that elicited a small scream instead of words.
After being sucked into what appeared to be a black hole, the paddle and company had popped out over a much less chaotic scene. It was a patchwork field that calmed her rapid heart rate with its pale colors. The moonlight here was exquisite, illuminating the world and making it like a scene from a storbook.
There were rolling hills in all directions, only broken by forests and bodies of water. When she squinted, Jess could almost see a mountainous skyline far ahead. One could never be sure, though, because this dream-like place was also very cloudy.
They rose into those clouds, and Botan "hit the gas".
"God, must we go this fast?" Jessica moaned, hoping her mother's chicken wasn't going to make a cameo appearance. Just as she felt like asking Yusuke for a paper bag, they burst out of the moist, gray clouds and into what had to be the yang to the meadowy region's yin.
"Aaaaand here it is!" Kuwabara exclaimed, exhaling in a rush as they slowed. He too was not one for flying.
But instead of letting out her breath, Jess sucked more in. The lush grass beneath them had been replaced with gaping pits in a canyon that consumed all of the land to the horizon, and most likely further. The thought of her legs dangling over the depths made them turn to a very heavy form of jelly. The lighting here was also contradictory with its somber shades that caused every shadow to lengthen and contort into nightmarish shapes.
The minacious landscape was not what left her respiratory system in despair, however. It was the monstrous building that wrapped itself around, on top of, and inside of the cliffs. Jess let herself be awestruck at the sheer size of the palace and the power that radiated from its fortress-like protection. /i
Jessica wobbled again, not sure why she was so intimidated by this place. 'Sheer drops and gigantic proportions aside, it's probably very nice.' Just as these thoughts were issued, the shadow of a flying creature with a tail the size of a football field crossed the path in front of her.
'Or, maybe not.'
Feeling like an incompetent child, she did her best to keep up with her escorts as they trekked the narrow strait of cliff top that led to a pair of doors fit for Paul Bunyan, the Jolly Green Giant, and any creature the Grimm Brothers could have thought. They could probably all stand on each other's shoulders and still have head room.
A few yards from the door, the weight of her backpack and the state of her legs finally caused her knees to give out. She tottered with her third shrill noise of the night, only to have a pair of strong hands right her teetering form.
"Are you okay?" Kurama asked, peering around from behind her.
"I think I'm going to hurl over this ledge, and I don't mean just dinner. At this rate, the rest of me would go with it."
He snorted, and she felt him slip the backpack off her back. This caused prideful indignation to rise in her.
"Look, I can probably make it to the--gyah!"
A blush that could rival her hair color flooded Jess's cheeks as Kurama swept her off her feet, quite literally. He shrugged the backpack off his shoulder and into her arms while carrying her newlywed style after the others.
"I can walk for myself!" she cried, embarrassment thick in her voice.
"Yes, right off a cliff."
"I--"
"You said so yourself." He gave her a look that had 'Margaret' written all over it. What was she, his two-year-old child now!
"Well, if I fell off a cliff, then that would spare me the two week wait, huh?"
"What does that mean?" Kurama sounded a little peeved at her last remark.
"Nothing."
His chest lowered as he let out his exasperation, and Jess couldn't help but wonder about where her head was resting. Her mind spiraled, and she mentally drop-kicked her head. Shouldn't they be at the door by now?
Kurama refused to put Jess on her own two feet until they had entered the palace. This meant that everyone was bound to see them - something she didn't appreciate.
"I feel AC." she muttered, still resting her head against his chest. The walk had been long enough for her embarrassment to resign, leaving behind a dull, irritated feeling. "Doesn't that mean we're inside?"
"Yes," Kurama answered, coming to a stop as the doors clanged loudly shut behind them. The sound reverberated through the room they were in, ringing up into the ceiling. Jess could see from her position in Kurama's arms that it was impossibly high. "I'll let you walk now, but stay close."
"I know, I know: 'don't put that in your mouth, Jess' and 'don't touch that!'." She glared at him, and he returned the gesture as he carefully placed her feet on the ground.
"I didn't want you to fall."
"So you could've just held my hand or something! I mean, I appreciate the concern. But I'm not two, and I don't always need rescuing!"
Kurama pocketed his hands and stared at her evenly. What was that in his eyes? Anger? Frustration? "Then stop acting like it."
'...what!' Jess spluttered in her mind, forgetting briefly that she still had a smug outer facade to maintain. 'Did he really just say I acted like I was two? Do I act like I'm two? I don't.'
Her thoughts slipped onto her tongue. "I don't." It came out with a hint of malice.
The fox demon shrugged, glancing towards another set of massive doors several yards away. Without another word, he walked towards them, leaving Jess to stubbornly stand behind. She glared at the Hello Kitty emblem stitched on the front of her bag, thinking about how much she currently resembled a pouting child.
A hand placed itself on her shoulder.
"Would you like me to show you your room?" Botan asked, smiling at her as if it were a normal occurrence to piss off Kurama and sulk in the entry hall. Maybe it was. "The others are going to inform Koenma of your arrival, and you can always meet him later. We have time."
"Sure. Uh, Botan?"
The blue-haired girl had already turned around. "Mm?"
"Is Kurama usually a moody person?" Jess asked, grabbing her bag and following the guide down the branch of hall that went left. Pearly cones on the wall illuminated the otherwise dark space. "I've always been able to be sarcastic around him before. He's never been so weird... hey!"
Botan was giggling, sending amused glances her way. "I'm sorry," she said after a last laugh. "But you make him sound like a hormonal woman."
Even Jess had to snort at that one.
"He's been under a lot of stress lately," Botan explained, turning to the right down another hall. "All of the boys have. Yusuke actually complained to me about not getting his homework done last week."
"Is it because of... me?"
"Partly, it's the Divine Night. I'm sure Kurama's explained?"
The redhead nodded, shifting her bag on her shoulder.
"What you may not know is that Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara are all major parts, if not the biggest, of what keeps your world safe.'
"Oh, so Earth's existence rests in their hands? That's a comfort."
"Isn't it?" Botan laughed, but not lightly. "Believe me, it takes a tremendous toll on them. Yusuke has been through so much in his life, and he's only sixteen." She paused as she reminisced. "Chances are, Kurama's patience is just stretched thin, which means he's got a lot on his plate."
"And I'm main course." Jess sighed as the first pang of guilt found her.
"I'd say you're at least a whole course, but Kurama's got bigger things on his mind if he's high strung. He's usually got the patience of an insomniac bear in winter. I should have a talk with Koenma about how much he over-works them." Botan scowled, stopping in front of a twelve-foot tall set of doors. She began unsystematically searching her kimono for something. "I'm not up for handling a breakdown from any of them. Can you imagine if Hiei lost it? God, we'd all be french fries... aha!"
Botan pushed the right door handle aside, revealing an oddly shaped hole. The pink object she'd just selected from her sash fit perfectly into the slot, and the doors opened.
"We used to have keys, but they were always getting lost or misplaced. Plus, one would need an entire set of them to get anywhere. An entire set of keys to the palace could've sunk the Titanic, so Koenma came up with these." Botan handed the strange object to Jess. It instantly morphed into a sphere on her palm.
"It changes shape!" Jess exclaimed, poking at it. It was harder than she thought. "Is it alive?"
"No," The Grim Reaper smiled. "But it is very intelligent. It's a ball now because you're not me."
"It only works for its owner?" She handed the pink blob of matter back to Botan.
"Exactly. And it only opens certain doors for certain people. It's a highly advanced system, one of Koenma's few good ideas." She frowned again and proceeded up the stairs right inside the doorway.
The rest of their walk was spent in silence, but Jess was too busy looking around to care. Once the flight of stairs had been climbed, the pair entered a complex of short halls. Some ended with doors, and others were riddled with concaves that held miniature flights of stairs to doors. Each door had its own shape lock and number.
Botan led them through the halls to a set of incongruous peach-colored French doors. Using the shifter as a key, the blue-haired girl pushed open the entry barriers, exposing a spacious open air pavilion. Twinkling gold baubles in a range of sizes floated through the air and lit up the room for Jess's viewing pleasure.
Five fifty-foot pillars soared between wide, sunny tiles that made up the floor and roof. Jutting out ahead was a long balcony stretching the length of the veranda; its rails connected the warm colors of the space. A round table sat in the middle of the lanai, surrounded with enough luxe plush chairs to seat ten. The rest of the area was open and airy, mostly focusing on the view beyond the balcony rails. Jessica couldn't tell what exactly it was overlooking, but she heard water and could make out patches of stars.
"Well," Botan sighed happily. "It's probably one of my favorite places in the whole palace. We added it on just for the boys, but there are extra rooms for special guests, such as yourself. No one has access to it except for those who live here and Koenma, Furuhana, and myself. You get a temporary shifter-key that will allow you to enter the halls, the pavilion, your room, and all other basic places. If you need to be in a room where your key doesn't work, then ask myself or Yusuke. Kurama and Hiei are not yet allowed in very specific places, but they can go anywhere you'll need to."
Jess smirked at that. They were still considered dangerous to a point. The thought of Kurama being capable of thievery and all the felonies that went with it made her wonder about his temper. Making him truly mad would be... not good.
Stretching, Jess followed Botan onto the veranda. No sooner had they stepped out did she quickly lower her arms and hug herself. The cold breeze in the airway blew away all the halls' warmth. Kurama had been right about her needing a jacket soon. Preferably now.
"It does get chilly in winter," Botan admitted. "But during the summer, it's to die for."
"I'll bet," Jess murmured, thinking of how nice it would be to escape here sometime. If she survived this mess, she was definitely going to ask for vacation rights.
Reaching a door on the left side of the room, Botan tossed a green blob at Jess. "Here, this will be your key."
Jess scrambled to catch it, having to unfold her arms from their shivering pretzel position. The instant it touched her skin, the blob became the shape of a puzzle piece. Looking up, she saw that it was complementary to the cut-out on the door before them.
"My room?"
Botan nodded.
The redhead grinned and unlocked the door quickly. 'No more cold. No more cold. No more cold. No more--'
"And this is it!" Botan said brightly after flicking the switch that lit it all up. "It's been decorated for a girl, but not too girly. Kurama said you wouldn't like a lot of bells and whistles."
"He was right." How was she speaking? How was speech still capable in a room like this? Words didn't express anything compared to the sight her eyes beheld. It wasn't enough to talk about it: this room required touch.
Forgetting everything, Jess walked inside and made her way across the thick burgundy rug to the bed. It had caught her eye first, with its tall black posters wrapped in an ethereal white gauze that shimmered in the light. The netting was draped over the bed in a tall canopy, creating a thin curtain that could be tied with silk bands to the side. Her fingers slid over the satins and velvets of the sheets and pillows, green eyes loving the purples, reds, and whites that colored them.
Tearing herself away from the bed, she saw that the room also had a bookcase crammed with volumes. There was a dresser and nightstand topped with shiny objects of necessity and novelty. A door to her right looked like it led out to a balcony, and a door to her left was ajar to show a bathroom that gleamed in onyx and pearl.
Being a princess was never something she'd wanted, but if this was it, then she'd changed her mind.
"Do you like it?" Botan asked, her blue hair strange in this room. "I can always have Furuhana change it up to something more your style. I know I'd want more feathers and some pastels--"
"It's perfect." Jess made herself stop admiring and start making coherent thoughts. "It's absolutely everything I never wanted, and I think I've been an idiot." All the times Margaret had offered to paint her walls plum marched through her mind's eye. She pushed them away quickly.
"Great." The Grim Reaper grinned. "Now I think we should gather clothes and anything else you might need before it gets too late. You will have to meet Koenma tonight, I'm afraid. He's so impatient."
Jess was starting to get the impression that Botan wasn't fond of her boss.
"Kurama wouldn't even make a guess at your size, so we'll have to have things specially made."
"Don't you have all kinds of information on me? Like my blood type and my last physical and the color of my toothbrush?"
"You would think," Botan rolled her eyes, walking into the bathroom. "that the ruler of this universe would have enough brain cells to think of things like that, but really, it's like expecting kryptonite when you open your box of Cherrio's." She walked out holding some black cotton pajama pants and a matching long sleeved top. "Sometimes I think we'd have better luck with Chewbacca behind the wheel. Try these on."
Jess was glad to get out of the McDonalds tee - it'd been pizza day at school, and there were some crusty sauce drippings on her collar. The pajamas were luxurious - like everything else she'd seen – and were made from cotton as soft and moveable as butter. The sleeves reached to her fingertips, and the pants covered her toes. Plus, she'd always liked black on herself. It was one of the only colors that didn't clash with her hair.
Botan made notes aloud. "Good, so size three is a fit. A size five for training, definitely--"
"Hey, Botan!" Yusuke knocked three times on the door very loudly. "Can I come in?"
The staff member squeaked and whirled around. "Why do you always scare me like that!"
"Is that a yes?"
"No!"
Yusuke walked inside anyway. "Hey, Koenma's going to start having dead kittens if Jessica--"
"Call me Jess."
"-- Jess doesn't show up soon. He's trying to be, er, presentable."
This made Botan laugh for some reason. "We should probably go, then."
"But I'm in pajamas." Jess protested, putting her hair up for the zillionth time today. "I think meeting the ruler of the universe in pajamas would be a little disrespectful."
"Believe me, he'll be more upset if you take the time to change." Yusuke said, looking in Jess's direction. "And that looks fine to me. Now, if it was, say, a teddie then--"
Botan slapped the back of his head with her paddle while Jess managed to choke on her spit. A teddie? Was he serious?
"Kidding!" He held up his hands in defense, cowering away from the paddle-wielding girl. Purple eyes glared at him for all of three seconds before their owner snapped and the paddle disappeared. Botan gave Jess a sympathetic look.
"He still hasn't learned his people manners yet."
"Hey!"
Jess smiled and waved it off. "High school is worse." At least Yusuke wouldn't try something in a dark alley. He seemed like a decent guy with a crazy sense of humor - not the psychotic weirdo type. Besides, Kurama would never let anything happen to her. He'd promised.
"That's where he learns it." Botan muttered.
"High school sucks!" Yusuke agreed, having not heard Botan. "There was this one time, Kuwabara, I swear ..."
The girls were almost out of sight, having already silently agreed to ditch him.
"Hey! Wait, I wasn't done," Yusuke caught up with them. "Anyway, Kuwabara was checking out this one chick--"
Jess looked to the blue-haired girl next to her. "Hey, Botan."
The girl looked at her with a questioning glance.
"My friend and I were lesbian lovers back in high school, and let me tell you: we had a lot of fun. This one time…"
"So Kuwabara told her flat-out that she had the biggest… whoa, what?" Yusuke spun on his heel, momentarily speechless as he caught the words 'fingers', 'sheets', and 'wet'.
Botan grinned. "Bingo!" she exclaimed in the silent shock that followed. Yusuke's eyes were practically bugging out of his head. "We ought to hook up like that sometime."
The trio made the long walk to Koenma's office with plenty of conversation. After reassuring Yusuke of which way she swung, Jess was treated to a commentary on every room they passed. Her guides pointed out the Grass and Duck Departments, and some more specific ones for St. Augustine Grass and Canadian Mallards. There were also hundreds of libraries, two of which they passed by. Ballrooms, training grounds, research labs, staff therapists...
By the time they reached Koenma's office, Jess was exhausted mentally and physically. There were so many things to take in, and she had already begun thinking of ways to signal help if she were lost. All these people, all these places; it had to be past ten by now.
"So," Botan began. "as fair warning, I should tell you that Koenma is not what you'd expect. He'll probably try to treat you like a servant at first, but don't let him get to you."
"Yeah, and when he says that we should leave, stall. Ask all kinds of random questions so that--"
The door to the office swung open suddenly. "--ELL YUSUKE TO GET HIS SORRY ASS IN HERE!"
"S'cuse me! Important message for the Cat Reproduction Department!" A homely blue creature tumbled out of the room and careened to the right. He turned his head as he ran, "And Yusuke, Koenma wishes for your presence!"
"What the hell?" Jess stared after the being as it rounded a corner and left her sight.
"That was George, Koenma's only love-interest."
"He is not !" Botan put her palm to her forehead. "He's Koenma's right-hand ogre, Jess."
"And his man-pet."
Botan swung at the Spirit Detective, but he ducked and said something that was lost in his laughter. It sounded suspiciously similar to "like a girl".
"An ogre? Really?"
Yusuke recovered and patted her head. "It'll feel normal, eventually."
His statement was doubtable, and she didn't appreciate him patting her head either. But before a protest could be made, Botan opened the door and quickly ushered her inside. "He's going to throw a tantrum soon," she whispered in Jess's ear.
Koenma's office held several chairs, a desk, and three handsome men. Kurama was sitting in a chair on the right side of the room, and Hiei rested against the wall behind him. The other male in the room had paused mid-pace upon their entry. He was tall with abbreviated brunet hair and hazel-brown eyes. And a... pacifier!
Jess pinched herself and winced. Her discomfort was in the situation more than the pinch.
"You must be Jessica Matthews," the stranger said, cordially reaching out his hand for hers. "I am Koenma, ruler of Spirit World and the chaise lounge in Dr. Lin's office."
"Nice to meet you," Jess said unsurely, giving him her hand. "I'm sorry, but should I call you 'your highness' or something of that nature? I'm not used to meeting royalty."
Koenma kissed her hand and released it. "Well, you could call me your hi--"
"Or pacifier breath, I like that one, personally." Yusuke commented smugly from his position close to the fire demon. "There was another I liked for a while - what was it, Hiei?"
"Yusuke, stop disrespecting my title!" The king seemed to snap easily. "I'll show her the tape of you on your first day of school!"
"I don't listen to your folly, Yusuke." Hiei said, ignoring Koenma and refusing to look at anyone. "Though it might have been 'Pull-Up's Reject'."
"That was it! You should call him that, Jess."
"Yusuke!"
"I, uh," Jess shot him a look of frustration before turning back to Koenma. Today was going all different directions of awkward.
"He's not really a 'your highness'," Botan said, cutting Koenma off as he opened his mouth. "He's a prince."
"That may be true, but I can still be called 'your highness'!" Koenma ran a hand through his hair before walking around the desk and sitting in a huff.
Jess glanced at Kurama, who had remained wordless, to find he had as much interest in her as a blind Mormon did in Shakira. Probably less, by the way his eyes stared unseeingly at the floor tiles. Was this the real Kurama? Lost in his thoughts and ignoring the rest of the world?
"I trust Botan has gotten you settled into a room?" The question startled her from her thoughts.
"Yes, Pr--sir." For half a second, she'd nearly called him 'Principal Trenton'.
"Good. What about a key and a map?"
"I haven't given her the map, yet." Botan said. "I'll get her one first thing in the morning."
"You better! You remember when Mizuka got lost on her first day, right?"
"Yes," Botan tapped her chin. "Didn't we find her in the Hungarian Boar Research Laboratory?"
"I was thinking it was the Hungarian Wildlife Reserve."
"I'll find out for you tomorrow." Botan said, stretching an arm behind her head and trying to hold back a yawn.
"Anyway," Koenma continued his interrogation. "Jessica, Kurama says that you've already started training?"
'The park,' she sighed inwardly. 'It'd be nice to be back there again. It feels like I haven't been home in days, but that's stupid.'
"Yes, some." she replied, wondering how much time had passed since dinner.
"Good. You two will start more extensive training tomorrow, correct?"
"Yes," Kurama answered, snapping into awareness like he had never left. "Yusuke will have to take over entirely the day after tomorrow. My trip to Silere has been moved up."
"You're leaving?" Jess asked, distress washing through her system before she could stop it. She hardly knew these people, and he was leaving her!
"Just for a few days. Preparation."
"Oh." He had barely even looked at her!
"Should I arrange for--" Koenma's attention did a 180 and directed itself at the clock on his desk. It emitted eleven slow dongs; his face grew paler with each one.
"And Cinderella loses her slipper," Yusuke muttered on the other side of the room. Hiei's lips jerked upwards in a fleeting smirk.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Koenma stood abruptly. "It's been nice chatting with you, Miss Matthews. I'll see you in the morning."
Jess forgot her current frustrations at the prince's surprising behavior. Yusuke had said to stall for some reason, and her curiosity was always dying to be pleased...
"Boxers or briefs?"
"What!" Koenma spluttered, glancing nervously at his clock again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Kurama raise an eyebrow.
"Paper or plastic?"
His brown eyes blinked rapidly. "I really don't know what you're talking about, but you should--"
"How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" Jess stood, placing her hands on the front of his desk and making her best 'lawyer' face. "Are you my mother? 'Toe-may-toe' or 'toe-mah-toe'? Where's the beef? Do you want fries with that?"
Koenma's eyes darted to Yusuke, who had been thoroughly enjoying this. "You son of a bi--"
A shrill pop and some clouds erupted from where Koenma had been, causing Jess to step back.
"Did I... kill him?"
"Just my pride." She heard a sigh. "Botan, can I have my booster chair?"
"Sure thing, Koenma sir."
The clouds dissipated to reveal the top of a poofy blue hat. "And Yusuke?"
"Yeah?"
"You're lucky you aren't sleeping here tonight."
The Spirit Detective nodded in agreement. "Only one more day 'till the weekend. I really should be cramming for that test with Kuwabara tonight, dammit."
Botan handed over the booster seat, and up popped... Koenma! "I really should be cramming in your brain! You know how I feel about making first impressions, Yusuke!"
"You're... a baby?" Jess asked, stunned into forgetting all her manners. Her butt found the chair again.
"Toddler," Koenma corrected, the miniature version of his fingers drumming on the desktop. "No, I'm not as young as I look. I'm actually older than the last few centuries of your family's descendants put together. Beings like myself do not age quickly, and I am perfectly capable of wiping my own arse, thank you."
"I... I wasn't going to ask."
"And just so we're clear on things, this palace is not a resort, no matter how nice it looks, or how big it is - this is a place of business. We are very serious about what we--Yusuke, stop mimicking me with hand puppets!"
Yusuke coughed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, but Koenma had had enough; three feet of robed royalty stormed over and began yelling at his cocky employee. At this, Jess couldn't manage a laugh. Despite the silly and overall weirdness of this conversation, the seriousness of the situation was making its way to home plate. Not a resort ...
"Koenma, sir!" George walked in just in time to see his boss's hat be whipped off and thrown across the room.
"Why you!"
"Why I wha--mff!"
'Surely,' Jess thought, her eyes watching Koenma and Yusuke pound at each other impassively. 'I'll be able to laugh at this in the morning.'
"Sorry about all that," Botan apologized for the third time in a row. "They really are like twigs these days."
Ha, easy to snap. She'd laugh at this in the morning, too.
"If you need anything, Kurama and Hiei will be here after their talk with Koenma. And I'm pretty easy to contact, too, if you'd rather not bother them."
Jess nodded, regressing even further into her quietness. She wished Botan would stop making excuses for everyone and leave her to her thoughts. Her wish was granted.
"Goodnight, dear." Botan snapped her fingers and covered a yawn with one of her pink sleeves. Once her paddle appeared, she hopped on and zipped out of the pavilion. Green eyes fluttered shut with a sigh of relief.
Silence at last.
Jess pulled out one of the expansive plush chairs and sat. After a few moments of staring into nothing, her face fell into her hands and she moaned. Folding her arms on the table, she rested her head on them and began to reflect. Silence may have reined outside, but chaos ruled her mind.
"So
what is the name of my rescuer?"
"Suiichi. Yours?"
"Do you mind if I ask if your name is Chinese?"
"It's Japanese."
"So you live there?"
"Sometimes."
From the very beginning, Kurama had alluded to his complicated life, but never did he come right out and tell her all that it entailed. He was more careful with his words than a hemophiliac in an armory.
The mysterious stranger had intrigued her, but now she wondered if it was all in the plot to get her here. To trick her into doing their bidding.
"So, you think I'll let you kill her? Not a chance."
But Kurama had also protected her more than once. It was hard to put that aside when she wouldn't even be breathing now if it weren't for him.
"I'm not concerned with what kind of education she gets, Youko. I'm concerned with her life. I'm trusting you despite every ounce of sense I possess. Jessica is young in her years and not capable of holding her own in a situation like this. But that does not mean she should be a toy manipulated into doing whatever they ask of her."
"I would never let that happen."
And he had promised her father that he would be with her every step of the way, sworn that she would be safe. Still, he was leaving.
"Yusuke will have to take over entirely in two days. My trip to Silere has been moved up."
He was leaving her here! In this mammoth of a palace! Whole centuries would pass before she found her way to Koenma's office again, even with a map. Being lost ranked low on her list of worries, however, and the list was getting longer by the second.
'Getting lost, catching pneumonia from this wind, messing up my training, making him even more angry, being alone, getting myself killed...'
After what could've been hours or minutes of drowning in her reflections, Jess heard the French doors open. She didn't even have to look to know whose eyes were staring in her direction, both pairs of them.
"It's still awake, Kurama," Hiei whispered, the clarity of his voice carrying it across the room. ' It?'
Kurama replied with something inaudible to her ears. Whatever it was, Hiei responded with an arrogant 'Hn' and walked away. The opening and closing of a door in the right corner signaled that the two fox demons were now alone.
"You really should be sleeping," Kurama said quietly as he came to stand beside her. Jess raised her head to see him properly. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, her eyes showed vulnerability, and the line her mouth made suggested anger. Still, it wasn't the half of it.
"You didn't tell me you were leaving."
"I didn't get the chance."
Jess swallowed and turned to face the balcony. What could she possibly say to that? He probably wasn't even lying.
"Get some rest, Jessica," he said, starting to walk away. The sound of her full name infuriated her though, and he didn't get far.
"Dammit, Kurama!" she cried, slamming her palms down on the table. "You can't do this to me!"
"Do what?" His eyes were wide as he twisted around again.
"Leave me here! I don't know this world, this palace, these people, you...! Oh, dammit! Just... dammit." She slumped back down into her seat and leaned her forehead against her hand. Her hair fell around her face in wisps the wind had loosed. 'A vision of beauty', she told herself sardonically.
Kurama sank down in a seat beside her, resting his hands on the arm of her chair. When she refused to look at him, he took her chin and forced her.
"I'm not leaving you yet," he explained, softness radiating in his tone. "I'll only be gone for two days, anyway. Maybe even less."
"You leave the day after tomorrow! What difference does it make?"
"A lot." His thumb ran along her jaw, and he paused to watch its progress. "You'll get to know everyone soon enough, I promise. They'll all take care of you while I'm gone."
The implications of this statement would definitely cause snickering later. Jess settled for a weak smile and leaned into his touch. He accommodated this action with the whole underside of his hand.
"Kurama?"
"Mm?"
"You aren't still mad at me, are you?"
"I was never mad at you."
"Yes-huh. You told me I was a two-year-old."
"I said you were acting like one, not that you were."
She gave him the look, and he laughed. This made her smile until he pulled his hand away. Then came disappointment followed quickly by embarrassment as she realized what had taken place.
Kurama stood. "It's other things I'm mad at, Jess, never you."
'Never...?' More blushing.
"Botan said you were all under a lot of pressure." Jess decided to stand, too. Her vision blurred for a moment as she did. It was seriously time for bed.
"So you asked Botan about me?" Why did things like this amuse him? Shouldn't he be worried or mortified, like normal people?
"I was worried you were bipolar or something," she lied, not wanting to express to him that she was worried about more frivolous things.
Kurama rolled his eyes and played with her hair absentmindedly. "Go to sleep, Jess. I'll see you in the morning."
Jess watched him go with a frown. She'd never liked putting up her hair, and between the wind and Kurama, it really wasn't anymore. But the gesture was what bothered her the most. Patting someone on the head was the silent way of saying, "Way to go, tyke! Tomorrow we'll buy training wheels!"
"I'm not two," she muttered, walking to her door. "And I'm going to prove it to you."
End A/N I, uh, this chapter is... crap. Guys, I know. T.T Next one will be better (I see you crossing those fingers!), I promise. Training begins, after all. If that's not interesting, then I'm just screwed, huh:D;;
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