I do not own YYH or Ranma ½. Sure you people understand!
'talk' "mind talk"
Chapter 11: Old Friends & Rivals
4 days later
Resha and Kurama were on their way home from school. Resha was walking on the fence like usual; however, the abnormal thing was that the walk was very mute.
None of them spoke much to each other since the day of that odd incident and had been avoiding each other most of the time. They didn't do their homeworks together or even eat together.
Splash!
Kurama turned around to find a grinning Yuusuke and Kuwabara.
Resha-chan stood there dripping wet. A vein popped on her head.
'Stop splashing water at me every time you see me, damn it!' she yelled in her small voice.
'You don't sound threatening.' Yuusuke mocked.
Kuwabara laughed. Despite him being his usual gentleman, Resha was an exception; she's just… not much girlish.
Resha-chan rolled her eyes and suddenly Hiei jumped out from a tree and stood on the fence right in front of her.
'Hn! You should have felt that!' he pointed and turned to Kurama. 'Why are you two not speaking to each other? I had been noticing!'
Resha-chan and Kurama didn't answer and shifted uneasily.
'Fight. Doesn't matter.' Resha-chan finally replied curtly.
Hiei narrowed his eyes and tried to enter their minds but both were blocked. Whatever it is, it seemed serious. He shrugged it off, why should he care?
'Well, uhh… we just came by to tell Kurama that there'll be a Dark Tournament.' Yuusuke muttered.
'Really, can I come?' Resha asked.
'No!' suddenly Kurama replied calmly.
Resha-chan glared at him. 'I'm going anyway.' She said back persistently.
'NO!' Kurama repeated a tad louder.
They started to argue in a rather odd way. They were uttering in their calmest voice, but the other boys could feel the tension.
'What's going on around here?' Everyone turned around to find Ranma; a traveling bag slumped on his back.
'Ranma!' Resha-chan shouted and jumped to hug him. 'You've been kicked out of the dojo again! Poor bro.' She continued matter-of-factly.
He sighed. 'Yeah. Hey ev'ryone! Watcha guys doin'?'
'There's gonna be a dark tournament and Kurama won't let me go.' Resha whined in her cutest voice.
Before Kurama could reply, a voice uttered.
'Why don't you all go?'
For the second time, everyone turned around to find… Genkai!
'But Sensei…' Kurama interrupted.
'It's all right, Kurama. They are strong; Koenma speaks highly of them. Besides, this tournament needs 5 participants in a team. Ranma can be the 5th person and Resha can be the reserve. The tournament also prohibited killing so no need to worry.' Genkai explained.
Everyone was speechless.
'Go get ready; we are going to the shrine to train for a few days before the tournament began.' Genkai finished.
Everyone looked at each other before nodding in agreement.
A week later
'Sugoi! This building is huge!' Resha-chan exclaimed as she looked around along with the others.
They were now at the tournament in Makai. Besides the six contestants; Genkai, Botan also Yukina came along to watch except Yukina and Botan came more to help with the curing when needed.
The six participants had gone through tough training the past few days and can be considered ready, more like weary! Resha and Kurama were still ignoring each other which were why she was in her chibi-form all these while. Apparently other people had noticed them but they couldn't get one of them to talk about it.
Not that they want to!
After signing up, they went to the room that was readied for them. It was colossal and a door separated the bedrooms. There were also two separated bathrooms for all of them to use.
'Nice… I guess.' Ranma said as he picked out a room. After they settled in, they gathered at the living room to discuss the situation.
'We are quite early so we have time to go and checked the other competitors. I say we should go and study others around.' Genkai uttered. Everyone agreed wholeheartedly.
'Sounds good.' Resha-chan nodded.
'And you! Turn into your mature-form. We don't want you to be squashed under somebody's foot.' Genkai pointed.
Resha-chan shifted uneasily. Kurama didn't look at her to know the reason.
'What's wrong with you, Resha? You seem odd these last few days.' Botan asked suddenly.
'I'll go and change.' Resha-chan interrupted swiftly and dashed into the bathroom. Everyone saved for Kurama stared at her peculiarly.
'We should go now.' Kurama recommended, getting up. The others followed suit after a few seconds of surprise.
Two hours later
Resha continued to look around her. There were many youkais now and most of them were huge. She really might have been squashed if she was in her chibi-form.
'We meet again, Resha.'
Resha turned around to see the Makai King, Yomi.
'Oh hello! I didn't think you would take part.' She answered smiling.
'No, my son is. Are you participating?' he asked, relaxed by her happy tone.
Kurama and Hiei walked aimlessly, studying the people around them.
Kurama suddenly stopped when he felt a very familiar chi. 'Yomi.' He muttered and looked around him. Hiei followed suit and they both finally saw the blind youkai-master, which to their amazement, was talking casually with Resha.
'Resha knows him?' Yuusuke and Kuwabara asked suddenly from behind.
'Resha knows who?' Ranma said rapidly coming to the group with Genkai. The two then saw Resha too.
Kurama only shook his head, his gaze not leaving them. Resha seemed pleased and was chatting with him as if Yomi was a long-lost friend. A red fox youkai came by the two of them and tapped on her back. She turned around and squealed happily suddenly hugging him.
Kurama's eyes darken momentarily but the look vanished a second later.
'KIN!' Resha squealed suddenly and hugged the burgundy fox.
He hugged her back, smiling in amusement. 'It's Kinu, not Kin.' He corrected.
Resha unexpectedly banged his head hard with a mallet that seemed to come out from nowhere. 'That… was for what you tried the last time we met. So, how are you?' she changed her tone simply.
He didn't get up from the ground. 'Do I look fine to you?' he muttered sarcastically from the floor.
Resha sweatdropped.
'So you two know each other already?' Yomi asked. He didn't thought one of his followers knew her so fondly.
Before she could answer, she suddenly saw her friends watching her oddly. 'I… need to go now; I'll see you two some other time. Ja ne! (See you!)' she jogged lightly to her friends.
'Who are they?'
'You know Yomi?'
'Who's the red fox? Why did you hug him?'
The questions came at the same time by Ranma, Yuusuke and Kuwabara. Resha only blinked, a huge sweatdrop appeared at the back of her head.
'We should head back to the room now, all of you.' Genkai uttered.
Resha was just going to nod when she saw something, or to be more precise, someone that made her transfixed and open-mouthed for a moment.
A gorgeous raven-haired boy around 18, with dazzling amethyst eyes was standing a few feet ahead. He hadn't seemed to notice her. However, his looks weren't the thing that had caught her attention. It was something else.
An insignificant person past by between them and by the time the person moved, the boy vanished.
'Ah… wait!' Resha said panicky and ran to the direction where he had been standing hardly any second ago. She looked around her frantically searching for him. The others… for the hundredth time! looked at her strangely.
'Can't she be any weirder?' Yuusuke muttered.
"Drat! I lost him! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Resha pondered angrily.
'Looking for me?' a voice whispered smugly right beside her left ear. She jumped and turned swiftly to face the boy she's been searching for.
He was smirking at her. 'Or… maybe you were looking for this?' he fished out a small rectangular velvety box from his pocket and held it in his hand.
'Arghhh! That's mine! It is you!' she tried to snatch the box from him but he held it high. 'Gimme that back, you stupid-idiotic-foolish man!' she cursed.
He only dodged her hands, smirking playfully in the process. 'Winners keepers, losers weepers.' He mocked.
She stood glaring at him hatefully, clenching her fists. 'I challenge you to a rematch! I want that BACK!' she gritted furiously.
He looked at her slyly. 'Hmm… are you worth to fight? It's hardly been 5 years. You aren't strong enough, onna!'
'I have become strong! And I want that thing back!' she eyed the black box in his hand.
'Are you participating in this match? Or just came to look from the side?'
'I'm participating dammit!' she yelled.
'Then, I accept your challenge… if we were to meet in the match.' He waved and vanished before she could utter a word.
Resha continued to clench her fist tightly, her knuckles were turning white, and her expression was unreadable.
'Resha?' Ranma said quietly.
She turned her head abruptly in surprise. Why, she forgot completely that they were all there!
'Err… I'll explain when we get to our room.' she sweatdropped sighing. Drat it! She hates explaining!
'Okay, first of all, who were the two guys you meet earlier?' Ranma asked as soon as everyone sat down.
'Why, that was Yomi and Kin! Kin is the red fox guy and Yomi was the one that had kidnapped me that particular time!' Resha answered.
'You looked happy to see them.' Yuusuke pointed dryly.
'Well, Kin is a friend…and a fox, no saying on that one, and Yomi had treated me nicely when I was with him. Besides, he didn't actually kidnap me, I went there willingly.'
'YOU MADE ME WORRIED TO DEATH THAT TIME AND YOU PRACTICALLY WENT THERE WILLINGLY? DID YOU KNOW I ACTUALLY RUN ALL THE WAY TO SARAYASHIKI FROM NERIMA HALF A DAY JUST TO SEARCH FOR YOU?' Ranma yelled in her ears.
'I was curious, okay! Don't yell in my ears. Damn, I'm gonna be deaf!' she cried.
'He has a point.' Kurama uttered calmly.
Resha shoot him a glare but didn't say a word back.
'So… who was the guy you basically yelled that time?' Kuwabara asked.
She tensed. 'An old rival. That's all I'm tellin' ya.' she said in a low voice and got up. 'If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed early.'
'Wait a minute! There's something I need to tell you all.' Genkai uttered. 'The tournament now permitted killing because the majority of the audience want it that way.' She sighed. 'SO… don't die!'
'WHAT!' they all apart from Kurama, Hiei and Resha yelled.
Resha smirked suddenly. 'Huh, that just made it better.' She went into her room feeling more relaxed.
They just looked at her in disbelief.
'Does she like killing?' Yuusuke asked Ranma.
'Not if she wants to.' Ranma replied silently.
Author: The greatest thanks to my reviewers esp. Mekia. Thank you sooo… much to all my dearest, most precious readers. (Bow)
