Vannen: I love reviewers! You're all awesome!
Hiei: I hate you!
Vannen: So what else is new?
Hiei: You're stupid too?
Vannen: Try again.
Hiei: Your discontinuing this thing you call a good idea?
Vannen: You suck at this game, you do know that right?
Hiei: Game?
Vannen: Never mind.
Kurama: While those two are arguing, Vannen owns nothing that is familiar to anyone that knows anything and everything about Harry Potter or Yu Yu Hakusho. She does however, own everything else.
Vannen: tying up Hiei Thanks Kurama, but you must go in the chair now! grabs him and pushes him into a chair next to Hiei and tying him up too I'm putting up a ransom. These two get to sit here and be tortured… hey, do I hear Yusuke laughing?
Yusuke: No one's here you nut case!
Vannen: Blast he's dumb. drags him out and ties him to a chair These THREE get to be tortured until I get let's say 60 reviews total. Now, how to torture them? digs through random pile Make-up, no, books, no, Hey! That's what happened to my soccer ball! continues to rummage Eh… the classic, make them listen to annoying literature for these two puts earphones on Hiei and Yusuke and what for Kurama?
Kurama: Can being tied to a chair be enough punishment for me please?
Vannen: I don't know.
Kurama: Did I mention I love your writing?
Vannen: No one likes a suck-up, foxy.
Kurama: I'll cook dinner for you?
Vannen: That'll work! Sit back and enjoy the show fox boy. laughs at Hiei and Yusuke as they scream in terror as they hear the title of their current book on tape, Les Miserables (still don't own) Here we go!
Part 4
Chunle, Telepathy, Haircuts, and One Disgusting Hour to be Awake
"After it!" Raven yelled and lept out the window. The other demons followed. It was a good twenty-foot drop to the ground but to them it didn't matter. Once they hit ground, they surged forward, drawing or creating weapons, preparing to kill.
"Where is it?" Jin demanded, turning frantically. Wind swirled around his form, tugging at his clothes and hair. Irritated by the robes he was supposed to where when teaching, he tore them off, revealing his normal attire.
"To the north," Raven growled, her head snapping up in that direction.
"A better question," Kurama stated, "what is it?"
"Hn."
"Could you try to make a helpful comment?" Raven snapped at the fire-demon.
"Hn."
"Guess not," she said, twisting her dirks into a defensive position and waiting for their enemy to arrive.
"Why did we panic at that explosion?" Touya asked.
"Because it sounded a lot closer than it really is?" Raven guessed.
"Prob'bly," Jin affirmed zipping into the air for a better vantage point. He gasped and dove to the ground at break-neck speed, pulling up at the last second and landing beside Touya. "'Tis a big 'un!" he exclaimed pointing to the north. Two trees from the forbidden forest fell to the ground in opposite directions, showing a creature as tall as the main doors of the school.
"The bigger they are," Touya started.
"The harder they fall!" Raven finished and jumped forward, knowing the ice mage was directly behind her. "Let's take him, icy!"
"As you wish," Touya smiled at the line that he hadn't heard in years and followed the girl, staying a few paces behind her.
"Wait!" Kurama ordered.
The two slid to a stop, glared back at the fox-demon, only to jump back, and to the sides as a hand smashed down on to the ground where they had once stood.
"What's going on Kurama?" Raven demanded sharply.
Kurama ignored the girl. "Who are you?" he demanded from the large, green, ogre-like demon that faced them. "And who do you work for?"
"I am Chunle, and who I work for is none of your concern. Just hand over the girl and no one gets hurt."
"Well, when you involve us, namely me, it kind of is our concern, especially mine!" Raven snapped. "Can I kill him now Kurama?"
"No," the youth replied, pulling his rose out of his hair. "You will answer me or you will be decapitated. Which will it be?"
"I choose the third option," the deep grating voice growled. He swung a club the size of a tree at Kurama, who back flipped out of reach.
"I was hoping you would do this the smart way," the kitsune sighed heavily while shaking his head. The rose he held snapped into his rose whip and he advanced.
"There's two!" Raven cried suddenly, her head turning skyward for a few seconds just before the hawk demon that had been circling slammed her into the ground. It missed its initial grip and soared back into the sky to continue, banking around to come in for a second attack.
A strong arm caught Raven around her waist and pulled her off her feet. Hiei set her down next to the wall, hoping it would offer a little protection at least.
"What's wrong with you?" Hiei snarled at the girl. "You had plenty of time to dodge. Why didn't you?"
'Uh-oh,' Raven thought.
'"Uh-oh" is right,' Hiei's voice sounded in her head.
"AH!" Raven screamed at the top of her lungs. Hiei resisted the urge to flinch and, in a slight panic, delved deeper into her mind so he could use her eyes as his own. What he found there caused him to back out and raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Get out of my head!" Raven continued, closing her eyes as if to push him out that way.
Hiei caught her collar, pulling her to the tips of her toes. "NEVER yell like that around me again," he growled, his ears still ringing. "It did you no good and I found what you've been hiding from us."
"Look out!" Raven yelled and pushed him to the side, out of the way of the club that slammed into the ground where they'd been moments before.
"You will explain later," Hiei affirmed, glaring vehemently at the girl and drawing his katana.
"Yeah, later," Raven agreed sharply, jumped onto his shoulders, and pushed off.
"Baka shojo!" Hiei cried up at her, only to see her slice her blades deep into the chest of the youkai-taka that had previously tried to carry her off. It screamed, grabbed a fistful of Raven's hair and shirt, and started winging away.
"Raven!" Touya cried from where he was attempting to bring the enormous demon down without killing it. Kurama still wanted questions to be answered.
"Baka shojo," Hiei repeated in a mutter, noting the girl was frantically trying to stab her captor. She did numerous times but it did no good. A portal opened before the two, and, eyes wide, Raven did the only thing she could when stabbing the hands seemed futile. Her knife flashed and she started to fall, minus a few inches of her hair and with a hole in the shoulder of her shirt.
"Kuso!" Hiei growled and sprinted to where the girl would land. He caught her before she became street pizza.
"So much for keeping one for interrogation," Kurama murmured as he approached, coiling his whip around his arm with a deft flick. He had personally killed the demon he, Jin, and Touya had been trying to take down in his distress over Raven's former predicament.
Raven sat on the ground where Hiei had practically dropped her, fingering the shorn off tresses, "My hair," she said sadly, a tear in her eye. She whimpered.
"Come on," Kurama said gently to her. "I'll see what I can do to fix it." He helped her to her feet.
"I'll go talk to Dumbledore about modifying a few memories," Touya said.
"I'll go tal' t' th' class," Jin added and followed Touya.
Hiei stayed silent and followed Kurama and Raven into the school. He went into the Ravenclaw dorm as the other two continued to the Gryffindor common room where the kitsune proceeded to cut the phoenix's hair into a more presentable appearance.
"What am I going to do?" Raven asked her only pet that was awake at the time, a black cat by the name of Alex. "Hiei found out."
You're going to tell him of course, the cat responded idly licking its paw and rubbing it over the top of its head.
"But I really don't want to," she whined, running a hand through her now chin length hair. Kurama had done a brilliant job in fixing her hair, giving her a more punkish look by cutting it off at different lengths. With the style, he had told her she might consider coloring half of it. She had promised to think about it and was actually toying with the idea of dying the back sapphire blue.
You may not want to, the cat retorted now turning his amber eyes on the girl, but you're going to have to. Just don't confront him. Let him confront you.
"I'm not that stupid," Raven snapped.
Tell him when he gets here. In the meantime, scratch my ears. Alex ordered, sauntered over lazily, and sat in her lap where she could do as he ordered.
"Yes, oh mighty one," Raven drawled with a bow but still commenced with the scratching.
"Keep that in mind," a voice growled from the doorway.
"Not you, Hiei," Raven sighed. "The cat."
"Hn." The demon closed her door behind him and leaned against the wall. "Start talking."
"About what?" Raven asked innocently.
"Don't play games with me," his hand clutched her throat an instant after she had spoken.
Raven swallowed visibly, hesitating. Hiei tightened his grip. "I'm blind!" she snapped. "You found it out for yourself! What else is there for you to know?"
"When and how," the demon growled. "Touya's never mentioned such a problem when he talks of you."
"That's because it only happened ten years ago," Raven replied quietly, hoping he would let go of her neck. He did reluctantly. "I was only a year old in human terms and my godfather had taken me to a park where I could play. Being the idiotic child I was, I managed to slip away to see how much of my original power I had acquired. I hadn't noticed the demon that had been hiding in the bushes. When I started to take the shields off my power, he sensed it and came running. Stupid snake!" she grumbled. "It found me easily and shot venom at me, hoping to kill me. It missed its original target of my throat and hit my eyes instead. My godfather heard my wailing, came running, and scared the demon off. Now you, the snake demon, and I are the only ones who know how it happened."
"Snake venom, hm?"
"Gah!" Raven fell off the bed and landed on her head, Alex yowling indignantly as he too was tossed to the floor. "Shuuichi! When did you come in?"
"The same time Hiei did," the fox replied smiling lightly.
"Do you not have a heart beat or something?" the girl demanded.
"Yes, I just know how to keep its beating regulated."
"I hate you…"
"Fine, I won't color your hair."
"I take that back."
"Good choice."
"Hn."
"Yes, Hiei, we know you're tired of hearing this."
"You got that out of 'hn'?"
"Yes."
"Wow."
"You get used to him sooner or later."
"Joy…" Raven drawled.
"Anyway," Kurama said. "If you had told us sooner, we could have given you your sight back about a week ago."
"WHAT!"
"Hn."
"He's right. It is your own fault."
"You need to teach me to speak 'Hiei'."
"It can't be taught. You just need to figure it out."
"Joy again… Back to my sight. You can give it back?"
"At the winter solstice, yes, at the turn of the season when my energy will start to increase due to the changing weather," Kurama informed her.
"Foxes and their plants," Raven sighed.
"Yes, well those plants are going to restore your sight."
"Okay, no more insulting the fox and his plants."
"Good choice."
"Hn."
"Bye Hiei!" Raven said cheerfully. "Wait, I just understood him. Cool!"
"Hn. Baka shojo."
"Does he only have those three words in his vocabulary?"
"It seems that way some days."
"Okay…"
Kurama smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll have Hiei wake you tomorrow if you want to train with us. I can tell you're tired of being the only one that gets hurt because you can't find your opponent."
"Shuuichi, you're the greatest."
"In case you didn't know, those that know my true name tend to use it. I'm Kurama to my friends."
"Arigato, Kurama."
"Come on," he said, pulling her up, "I'm hungry and it has to be close to dinner time."
"Sounds good to me!" Raven replied, jumping to her feet as her stomach growled.
"WAKE UP!"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EVERYTHING FULL OF MISCHIEF AND EVIL WAS THAT FOR!" Raven yelled at Hiei.
"Kurama told you I'd be waking you up. Come on, we're late."
"Did he say to wake me up at four in the BLASTED MORNING?"
"Hn."
"Alright, I'm coming." Raven grumbled and waited for him to leave. Once she heard the door closed, she fell instantly asleep, muttering something about stupid foxes and fire demons in her sleep.
"NOW!" Hiei snapped, yanking her covers off her bed. He hadn't left, guessing she would do something similar to what she had. Raven shivered and started feeling around by her feet for the blankets. Before she could find them, a bucket of extremely cold water was dumped on her head.
"Where'd you get that, the lake?" she demanded spluttering in rage.
"Yes."
"Great… Snow run-off is flippin' COLD!" She yelled and jumped out of her now soaking bed. "Leave so I can change!" she snapped at the youkai.
"Hustle," Hiei ordered and left. Raven found him standing next to her door three minutes later as she tiredly pushed her messy hair out of her face. Hiei led her out of the castle and to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest where Kurama waited for them.
"It's time you learned to stop relying on sound," the fox told the phoenix. "Once you can hit Hiei or me, we can stop."
"Doesn't sound too hard," Raven murmured.
"Hn."
Four hours later, Raven limped into the castle, feeling like she had been just had a fight with a lawnmower and lost terribly. She was sure that her form agreed with her thoughts. Numerous cuts and bruises from her two new trainers covered her figure.
'Great,' she thought, 'how do I explain a black eye, split lip, bleeding nose, and cut eye brow to the teachers?'
'The traditional "I fell down" excuse might work.'
'Hiei, get out of my head…'
'Make me.'
"I'm too tired!" she yelled at him and fell over only two feet from the door to the Ravenclaw dorm.
"Hn. Baka shojo." Hiei picked her up and carried her into her room where he deposited her unceremoniously on her bed.
"I hate you too," the girl growled and fell over backwards into the soggy mess that was her sheats.
Vannen: Hey! That's new! Well, to some extent. I hated my last version of this section of the story. Hope you all enjoyed.
Kurama: I did.
Vannen: What did I say about brown nosers?
Kurama: I'll be quiet now.
Vannen: Good choice.
Yusuke: TAKE THESE BLASTED EARPHONES OFF!
Vannen: Not until I get my reviews.
Hiei: Baka shojo.
Vannen: Keep in mind I control your fate in this story, and I'm taller than you.
Hiei: Hn, by four inches.
Vannen: It's still four inches!
Kurama: Please review before I loose feeling in my arms.
Vannen: Everybody be good and listen to the cute fox boy. You're all wonderful! Later!
