Disclaimer: YYH is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. If I were him I would be creating more manga, not writing fanfiction.
A/N
Thanks to reviewers. Haven't updated the last few days because of computer trouble and I've been feeling a little sick.
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Act I
Tick, tick, tick. She could hear the clock on the floor by her ear. It was just like when she had lived back in Ningenkai. Back home in America, going to school like a normal person, working hard in high school to get good grades to go to a good college. Until...
Asha just wanted to lie there and remember how things used to be. She wanted to drift back into the realm of sleep where she could be anything, where anything could have happened, could still happen...
'Wait a minute,' she suddenly thought. 'Last time I checked I didn't have an alarm clock.'
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP--
"Alright already. Whoever the hell put that alarm clock right by my ear is going to get a serious telling off." she grumbled. Asha's arm reached out from under her duvet, the bare skin rippling with goosebumps as it left the safety of the warmth.
Her hand came crashing down on the snooze button. She picked up the clock. With her other arm she propped herself up, and ran a had over her long hair to push it back from her face. The LCD screen read 05:30. (A/N: For those of you who don't know, that's a military read out for 5:30 am.)
"What the...?"
"Rise and shine, sleepy head! Guess what today is!"
"The day little princeling Koenma needs to find a new ferry girl?"
"Um...well, no. Sorry about the early hour, but we need to get you ready for today!"
"Botan--" Asha groaned as the bubbly young woman walked over to the sole window and threw it wide to the cold. It was still dark out.
Asha got up. There was no use fighting, besides, she would barely be able to get back to sleep.
She wrapped the duvet around her, filled with down and a beautiful emerald green with a black swan embroidered onto a scenery of a pond. Feebly she tried to wrap herself in it's warmth once again, attempting to cover her insubstantial black tank-top and pants.
"Really, ferry girl, it's very frightening how a grim reaper is so very not grim. Then again, better you then some skeleton in a hood with a scythe."
Botan giggled. "You are a funny one."
Asha waved her hand dismissively, in the process sweeping the duvet away from her and exposing her body once again to the frigid air.
"Anyway," Botan said cheerily, "we have to get you sized and cleaned up and made up for the big events today!"
"What big events? I may know a lot of cultures pretty well, but I can't know everything about them. What is the holiday today?"
"It's Niino Izu Yuki Matsuri!"
"...um, if my Japanese here is correct, that's a snow festival, right?"
"Yep! Now move. We're waisting time. Go to the kitchen. Yukina has made breakfast for everyone."
'It seems that ever since I've gotten here, all I've been doing is following orders to move around.'
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Kitchen
When Asha walked into the kitchen, Yusuke, Kurama, Genkai, and Yukina were already there. Yukina was standing at the stove, cooking what definitely smelled like sausage.
"I thought today was a Japanese holiday. What's with the Irish breakfast?" Asha said as she scratched the top of her head, yet again revealing her body to the cold.
"We decided to try some American food, since you spent yesterday eating unfamiliar Japanese foods." Kurama answered politely.
"Some of the foods were more familiar than others. But I must admit it has been a long time since I've tasted true meat. Do we get eggs too?" Asha asked eagerly.
"Yes," replied Yukina.
"You're an angel."
Asha sat down at the table, and picked up her chopsticks expectantly. Yukina came and set down a plate of eggs and sausage in front of the salivating assassin.
"This is amazing," she told the ice maiden. In the hopes of making light conversation, Asha said, "So...whose idea was it to invite me to the Snow Festival?"
"That would have been Kurama."
"Straight forward as ever, Genkai." Kurama teased. "Yes, it was my idea. Better than being left alone in the dojo."
"I don't do well in big crowds. Assassin, remember. Stealth and secrecy, and all that good stuff."
"Shinobi are trained to be efficient and versed in all environments, onna. I doubt that you are not."
"Sparky! Great of you to join us. Yukina whipped up some sausage and eggs. Want some?"
Hiei's only response was to raise his brow at being called "sparky" and to walk over to the stove and lift two sausage links from the pan, speared on a knife he had pulled from inside his cloak.
"Hey Hiei," Yusuke called, "where's Kuwabara and Shizuru?"
"The baka and his sister will be here soon."
By this point, Asha had warmed up enough to discard her comfortable duvet and got up to walk to the refrigerator.
"I know it's a long shot, Genkai, but do you happen to have any orange juice?"
"Mandarin. It'll taste a little different, but it's pretty much the same thing."
"Awesome."
As Asha was pouring herself a glass, the others had declined when she asked, Botan walked through the shoji screen separating the kitchen and the living areas with a tall, carrot topped teenager with small eyes and a younger woman with long brown hair and equally brown eyes.
"About time you got here."
"Hey shrimp! You know you're faster than us! So don't go picking a fight, huh!"
"Just like you are?"
It was then that Kuwabara noticed Asha.
"Ah! Who are you?" He was shouting, obviously startled. "I didn't even sense her!" Now he was speaking to his companions at the table.
"She's a shinobi, baka. It's her life if she is found out."
"Why you..."
"So this is my task for the morning, Botan. She may take a little work, but she has a good foundation to work with."
"Excuse me, but why are we talking about me as if I was a half finished portrait?"
"Because you are," said the unnamed woman.
"Let's go!"
Botan strode across the kitchen to grab Asha's arm.
"But Botan, my juice!" She threw a glance at those still seated, as if it were a plea for assistance; then she was through the doors, still protesting as they walked away.
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"The curtain closes on act one." Kurama murmured.
"Why don't you just ask her what you want to know, Kurama."
"Because she is a shinobi, and they are taught to guard secrets with their lives."
"But she's American. She calls herself an assassin. It must be different from the shinobi."
"Perhaps, Detective, but I wouldn't bet my life on it." Hiei interjected.
"Hiei's right. The more we know about Asha, the more we can possibly find out about her target and her employer." Genkai said while picking the assassin's duvet off the floor, looking contemplatively at the design.
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"Okay, Asha. Let's get you ready."
"Botan, how much reign are you giving me?"
"Absolute reign, Shizuru."
'So this is Shizuru. The carrot head must have been Kuwabara.'
"Alright, this will be the room where everybody will get ready," Botan said while opening the screen.
Inside was a relatively large room with space for two people to be assisted with dressing at once. There were low stools for them to stand upon, and tables to lay pins and materials on. Hanging from the wall was one unlit, full length mirror in which to examine the finished product, and another low table beside that. Around the walls were sets of kimonos, so vibrant in color that it nearly made the poor assassin's head spin. Asha also saw a door, before she was ushered into the room by an impatient ferry girl.
Shizuru went to one of the kimono sets, and began naming and translating the different layers of the dress.
"Susoyoke—half-slip; hadajuban—undershirt; nagajuban—under-kimono; date jime—waistband; date maki—undersash; han eri—half collar; eri shin—half collar lining; chikara nuno—collar adjustment; kari himo—temporary cord; kimono belt; koshi himo—sash; obi; obi age—bustle sash; obi ita—obi stay; obi jime—obi cord; obi makura—obi pad; tabi—socks; zouri—sandals; now go put the susoyoke on." Shizuru gently handed her the garment.
Asha stared at it in her hands for a few moments. "I'm flattered, truly I am, that you would do this for me—go through the trouble—but shouldn't I be under lock and key?"
"Well, goodness no! Kurama just wanted you to have a bit of fun that's all. Get a taste of the city, since you obviously have a love of different societies. Anyway, all four of the Tantei will be there, so it's not like you'll have a chance to escape."
"I get it. A keep your enemies closer kind of routine. That's cool." Asha shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the door she had noticed earlier. True to her suspicions, it was a bathroom, as modern as the kitchen.
She removed her clothes, and wrapped the susoyoke around herself.
Like it or not, she was going to the Snow Festival.
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A/N
It took me a long time to research the kimono, and even then all I got from my searches was a list of garments. I have no idea how to put the kimono on. If anyone more versed in this can offer me help, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. R&R.