Thank you for repenting.
Chapter 16:
-(Ningenkai)-
Shuiichi had set her up on his bed, he himself sleeping on the floor next to her (it would be quite suspicious if he had slept on the living room couch, alerting his mother and stepfamily of another's presence). It was currently early morning- he had been up for an hour yet, catching up on summer reading.
"Ugh…" His head lifted from over his book, ears perked for more noise. He watched her silently as she tossed and turned sleepily.
"D---, I forgot to turn on my alarm." She opened her eyes blearily.
'This is not my ugly bedspread! What the hell!'
"Good morning." Yumiko looked up.
"Shuiichi!"
"You had some injuries- I took the liberty of bringing you to my home to heal. Although-" Shuiichi took her hand and inspected it "-your powers seem to negate my own."
"What?"
"My youki isn't as effective on you as it should be."
"Whatever." She sat up, scratching her forearm. "Nothing serious?"
"No broken bones or damaged lungs." His eyes flashed gold for a moment.
"Not my fault. You were really heavy." Yumiko got up. "Hey, got a hair thingy or whatnot?"
He raised a delicate eyebrow. "Do I look the kind?"
She shrugged. "I don't know- since you have long hair, I thought you kept it out of your way or something, 'cause that's what I do."
"I'll try and find something." She nodded, nosing around the room.
"This room yours?"
"Yes."
"Thanks for giving up your bed. It was really comfortable."
"Not a problem." He picked up a folded towel. "Do you want to take a shower?"
She examined herself. Kurama hadn't changed her, much to her satisfaction, but she was utterly filthy. "Hell yeah." She accepted the towel and went into the indicated conjoining bathroom.
'Kami knows I need this.' Setting the water to warm, a bit on the cool side to wake her up more, she stripped herself of her ruined clothes and stepped into the shower stall. Closing her eyes, she relaxed.
Instantly, the water went cold, no hot water at all. Wake up call.
"EYAAH!" She snapped out of her trance and tried to avoid the water droplets.
Kurama looked up at her shriek, dropping the sheets and bedding on the floor. Her energy had spiked upwards as well. 'What on earth?' He left his task behind to see what was wrong.
Seconds later (after some tinkering with the hot and cold water levels as well), the water hadn't returned to its normal temperature, and she quickly stepped out of the shower.
'D---, I forgot to ask for clothes.' She wrapped the towel around herself, kicking the disheveled pile of offending clothes aside, and peeked outside to see if he still was there. He wasn't, so she stepped out, opening his closet to borrow a t-shirt or something.
"Yumiko, is everything alright?" Kurama stepped in, Yumiko whirling around to see who it was. They both instantly froze, staring at each other.
His eyes examined her body, flicking over her in inspection. She was, although covered by her bath towel, revealing more skin than she usually did. She blushed, wet beads of water on her face having fallen from her slick hair, knowing that he was looking.
"Do you have anything for me to change into?" She edged behind the closet door. "I don't have any."
"What's wrong with her as is?" asked the kitsune slyly.
"Youko!" Shuiichi hissed, blushing. "Of course." He stepped past her, brushing against her legs momentarily to reach for some clothing. He handed her a large t-shirt, big enough to cover her down to mid-thigh. She accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you so much." She ducked into the bathroom once more to change, Shuiichi respectfully turning away.
"Done." He faced her again.
"Here. You wanted something to hold your hair back." Yumiko took out the offered object, inspecting it. It was a flexible vine, even sporting tiny leaves. He grinned when she looked at him. "I improvised."
She smiled in response and pulled her hair into a small loop at the nape of her neck.
"Beautiful." She felt his touch on her neck. "Do you like it?"
"Yes." Yumiko covered his hand with her own, gently removing it. She turned to look him in the eye.
Mistake.
His green depths easily paralyzed her body, no longer under her control. Emerald orbs probed her own, exposing her state of mind. She didn't have the ability to close her eyes, or even blink- not until the gaze was broken.
Yumiko tried to do the same to him, but she couldn't get far past the jade defenses. Under the green, she thought she saw a shift of gold lens. Trying to pin down the kitsune, she couldn't see much.
The eyes shifted, glancing to the side. "Duck."
"Wha-?" Kurama pushed her to the side, and drew a rose from his hair in a swift movement. Another brought out his trademark weapon and sliced the head off a demon. With a grunt, the rest of the decapitated body fell to the floor, next to Yumiko, sword fallen out of his hand.
"Low class," the redhead muttered. "They travel in groups. There will be more." His eyes darted to her, on the ground, staring at the body.
"Come on." She took his hands numbly, pulling her off the ground. "I'll take you to Genkai's temple. It's a better situated area." She nodded, gripping his hand. He tossed a seed onto the body, a large spiky plant growing, with tentacle like stems waving. It began to leech up the blood, flesh and bones, leaving no traces behind for someone (more specifically humans) to find.
The kitsune herded her down the stairs and out the door, locking it behind him. He was about to carry her on her back, but she stopped him. "I can run."
"Not as fast as me."
"Fast enough."
"Alright." He handed her Takeo's daisho (1) in their wooden box. "Use them if you must. And don't fall behind." She nodded. He set off, running fast, but was still slow enough for her. When she managed to keep his pace with him for several minutes, he sped up slightly, reaching the outskirts of Tokyo. She stayed only several footsteps behind, their footsteps echoing in the empty streets.
"Kurama, where are we going?" she called.
"Just wait," he responded. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the time. Several more demons are approaching- I can handle them, you just run ahead."
"'Kay." She continued on, after having him point out the path for her to follow. Basically through this forest. Big deal. Climbing over a large tree stump, her borrowed shirt caught on a branch. She growled, untangling it. 'I'm not exactly attired for traipsing through the forest.' All she had on was Kurama's large t-shirt and her underclothes, no shoes. 'How many f---ing splinters can Yumiko get in the time period of running through the dark dismal forest? How 'bout a good dozen or so.'
"Baldok sees nice tender ningen!"
"Who the hell just called me meatloaf!" Yumiko whirled around, nearly whacking herself with her package.
"Ningen is crazy- but she will make good meal."
"Hey! I'm not going to be eaten anytime soon!" She spotted gleaming eyes peering out at her from above the treetops. Squinting, she could make out his form, which was of a bat-creature shape.
"Crazy female is weak. No chance against Baldok."
"Oh yeah? Well Baldok is referring to himself in third person!"
"Well Ningen is crazy!"
"Well Baldok doesn't have a large vocabulary!"
"Well Ningen is female!"
"Baldok is sexist!"
"Ningen talks too much!"
"Baldok thinks Ningen talks too much because he's stupid!"
The demon's eyes bugged out. "Baldok thinks Ningen is rude. Ningen shall pay price!" He launched himself at her, spreading his wings.
"Nyah!" She stuck her tongue out and jumped out of the way just in time. "Baldok is slow!" She started sprinting again, Baldok at he heels as he flew after her.
"Baldok too slow!" she taunted back, which wasn't the smartest thing, since it wasted her precious oxygen and enraged him even more. "Baldok is getting old!"
"Ningen shall be next meal for Baldok!"
"Ningen will be happy and skippy and uneaten because Baldok is too old and slow!"
"Baldok shall show ningen!"
"Baldok shan't!"
"Baldok shall!"
"Baldok can't!"
"Baldok can!"
"Baldok old!"
"Baldok catch Ningen!"
"No, Baldok won't!" 'At least I'm running the right way. It would be such a pain if I was going back the way I came.' The box was also starting to slip in her grip.
"Baldok will!"
"Baldok can't shut up!"
"Baldok thinks Ningen says that because she out of breath!"
"Ningen is NOT out of breath!" Obscene lie.
"Ningen is lying!"
"Ningen will kick stupid demon's crazy ass!"
"Ningen is getting tired!"
"Baldok should SHUT THE HELL UP!"
WHAM
"Baldok thinks Ningen is stupid!" The bat demon cackled amusedly, rolling in the air, as Yumiko peeled herself away from the tree trunk.
"Yeah, well, I bet Baldok flew into trees tons of times!"
The demons stopped laughing. "Baldok thinks Ningen is all talk."
"Say that to my face dips---!" She waved her box threateningly.
Baldok leered and swooped down on her. She gave him the finger with a glare.
Howls of pain erupted from the forest.
"Baldok can't see! Ningen has hurt him!" He held his arms over his eyes, still wailing with pain.
"Weak Ningen MY ASS!" She threatened him with a fist.
"Baldok is blind!"
"Baldok can use his fancy ear-squeak technique like all the normal bats do!"
"Baldok can't use sight!"
"Baldok can suck it up!"
He lunged at her blindly. She yelped, falling backwards. He loomed over her, but with a swift kick she hit him in the crotch. He shrieked, bending over and giving her escape.
'Wicked, this is like Prepare Class! (2)' Yumiko gave one more kick. Baldok lunged again, but she whacked him over the head with the box, producing a satisfying crunch. She darted off, not knowing how long the demon would stay down.
'Bat-thing-demons have balls?' She shrugged mentally. 'Too bad. So, now to find Genkai in her Temple of Doom. Meh, shouldn't be so hard.'
-(Kurama)-
There were about fifteen demons- altogether, their numbers could probably be beaten by their low-class status among demons. They would have continued past him, but for the fact that he challenged them openly with his drawn weapon.
"You have no business here. Leave." Cold, calculating eyes examined his foes. They looked strong, with burly arms, but he was more worried if they were fast.
"Master Rando sent us. He wants the girl."
"Rando will never acquire Yumiko. Reikai will make sure of that," responded Kurama calmly.
The one who had spoken grinned. "He thought you would say such. But he has a little… hostage…" The others started cracking up slightly. "Someone who might be of some importance. Several people in fact."
His emotions didn't show on his face, but he was worried. Too many demons had taken advantage of the Reikai Tantai's close friends and family to try and get the better of them. "And who are these hostages?"
"Ooh, let's see. Minamono Shiori, Kuwabara Shizuru, Urameshi Atsuko, the ice-maiden, and that ferry-girl."
At these words, Kurama would have broken out in a cold sweat. Rando had each of the Reikai Tantai's weaknesses, and the deity of death. The prospects were not friendly.
"You have two weeks." They left, the redhead not pursuing.
: End Chapter
(1) Daisho means the pair of two blades, small and long (something like that), such as the wakazashi (short sword) and the katana (long sword), or the tantou (dagger) and the katana.
(2) My school once hired these people that taught us all these useless moves, like to poke a person in the eye or to kick a guy in the crotch. And our tuition covered for this. DX It was so pointless, 'self defense'. Hahaha, but at least we got to beat up a guy in a padded suit; I remember I punched him in the stomach when I was supposed to poke him in the eye. Whoops.
Insaneningen14: yes! Chapter sixteen done! Sorry about Baldok- I haven't really gone over his character well, 'cause it's been a long time since I've read Yu Yu Hakusho- even longer since I've watched it (more than a year (sigh) ).
Okay, I want six reviews by next chapter!
