In the Wake of What Follows
Chapter Four: Challenge Accepted
It was snowing the day Terra returned. The temple looked different in the overcast with a light cover of white coating the rooftop. Before Terra could reach the front door, Genkai and Kuwabara joined her outside.
"I knew it was you! Could sense you all the way from the bottom!" Kuwabara cheered. "Let's get you inside. It's freezing out here." He made an exaggerated burr and full-body shiver. It was extra comical on such a tall and sturdy-looking man. "Yusuke's going to be excited you're here when he shows up later. You were pretty badass for poking holes in Kurama's cover-up. Fox-boy's charm is normally so strong he could convince your own mother she'd never met you. It's always great to meet someone who doesn't get swept up in all the bull crud he spouts."
Despite the complaints, Kuwabara spoke fondly of his friend. Kurama's silver tongue had its uses, like convincing the medic Terra hadn't needed the hospital. But Terra also took the compliment that being able to resist Kurama's wiles had real merit to it.
"So, you're back," Genkai observed as Terra drew nearer.
Terra bowed, readjusting her bag when she stood back up. "If the offer is still on the table."
Genkai only nodded inside before going through the front door herself. Terra followed and shut the door behind her. She took off her hat and coat before tackling her boots.
"Whoa, Terra. You cut your hair!"
Terra ran her fingers through the pixie cut. It had grown out a little bit since Lorraine had shaped it up. Long enough she could actually card her fingers through the side, if barely. She had gotten it reshaped before coming up the mountain. She had them dye it, too. Somehow, that little bit of change to her old appearance made Terra feel more like herself than she had in a long time.
"Yeah, well," was Terra's only response.
"You lost weight," Genkai remarked. It wasn't in that congratulatory way most people would give the comment. She said it with bitter disdain – accusatory, even. "I wasn't expecting you to come back weaker," she snapped.
"Sorry," Terra mumbled.
It seemed odd that they talked to her as if they had always known her. At the same time, as Terra set her boots aside and slipped into a guest pair of house slippers, she felt oddly at home with them. She was glad for the lack of awkwardness between them upon her arrival.
"Ah, don't listen to Genkai," Kuwabara laughed. "You look great!"
Terra rolled her eyes at the guy. Last time, she hadn't had a chance to really talk to Kuwabara, but he seemed nice enough. A bit of a goof, but kind, which was more important. She walked past them with her bag slung over her shoulders. "Same room?" she asked.
"Oh, uh. Nooooo," Kuwabara said nervously, rushing to Terra's side. He looked so sheepish, trying to make himself small despite his towering frame.
"Why?"
"Hiei came back a couple of days ago and took that one."
The name sounded familiar. Terra thought back to her time at the temple that summer. The name Hiei had come up a few times when the others had been talking during meals. "The short one with the third eye?" She thought that was how Yusuke once described him.
"I wouldn't let him hear you call him short," Kuwabara laughed. "Uh, how long are you staying for?"
The question was for Terra, but Kuwabara looked at Genkai once the words left his mouth as if her ruling would be more important. It probably was. Terra hadn't thought past getting here. She'd packed a month's worth of clothes, which would be enough to wash and keep her going for however long she stayed.
"I don't know," Terra admitted, also deferring to Genkai. "However long seems fit, I guess."
Genkai huffed. "Think long term," she told the both of them.
Kuwabara scratched his cheek as his eyes screwed up in thought. "Yeah, okay. So, like, a bunch of us have permanent rooms on the west side of the building, opposite the kitchen and everything." Terra had seen that part of the temple in the tour Keiko gave her, but not much of it. "But the other guest rooms on the west side are going to be assigned to wedding guests. They're not coming for a while still, so you could stay there until then, but I'd have to boot you while they're here 'cause I can't have my folks staying next to the pipsqueak." Kuwabara looked down the hall towards the east side, where Terra had stayed last time. "There's only the one room left once the guests get here. A bunch of our old fighting buddies are actually gonna stay in one of the training rooms since we didn't have enough bedrooms for all of them. Only seemed fair."
She understood what he was saying well enough. They put Hiei away from where the other guests would be sleeping, and the only long term room free would be the one right next to him.
"It's fine," Terra said. She was the one intruding. She could manage. "I had no way of planning my travel or letting you know in advance that I was coming. But if you're willing to host me, I'd rather settle in one room and stay there. Living next to the guy isn't going to kill me."
Terra turned down the left hall that led to where she once stayed and almost immediately stopped in her tracks. It wasn't far to her old room, but she could feel the energy like a brick to the face. It was fierce and dark and unrelenting. Terra's eyes widened in panic.
"Yeah," Kuwabara said, noticing the reaction. "Which is why he was put in a different wing than the rest of us."
Genkai snorted from behind the tall guy. "Well, it's probably a good thing," she mused. "You're going to have to get used to those kinds of energies and not freeze up upon sensing them. Now put your bag in the room after his, and let's start your training."
Terra turned around and looked at the old woman like she was crazy. "Now? I just got here. I'm tired." It took two trains, a bus, and a hike up what felt like fifty-thousand stairs to reach the temple. Terra had barely done more than walk five blocks every other week since the summer. She was exhausted.
The look in Genkai's eyes made Terra turn back around and head towards the dark aura. "All the better," the crone laughed. "You'll get to where I want you quicker."
Terra rushed to her new room. It was barren save a small dresser that had traditional kamidana on top. The small house shrine seemed untouched, probably an old one that Genkai didn't use anymore. She set her bag down with the hat and coat she had taken off. Terra was already in sweats, but that was more to do with how she had been dressing for months than any plan to train so quickly. She changed into a long-sleeve athletic top and popped in her contacts before finding her personal pair of house slippers to wear.
She tried her best to ignore the demon in the room next door, but it was nigh impossible. The energy had the same effect as jumping into a lake first thing in the morning, though, so at least it woke her up enough that working out didn't seem too daunting of a task.
Genkai pushed her hard right out of the gate once she reached the training room. Playing off of what Genkai already knew of Terra's strength, Terra pushed through round after round of a high impact yoga sequence. If Terra had been tired when she had gotten in, she was half dead now. Her muscles finally gave out and Terra collapsed onto her stomach.
"Hmph. Is that all you got?"
A gargling sound and a bit of a moan were all Terra could muster in reply.
"Sit up," Genkai barked. With strained movement, Terra somehow managed to get herself into a sitting position. "Calm your mind. Rid yourself of thought."
A herculean task for most people. Terra was tired beyond the point of thought, unable to focus on anything except her labored breathing. Even the long days she spent staring at the ceiling, Terra hadn't been able to quiet her restless mind. Everything kept drifting back to the night Jeremy and Conner died. Now, though, her mind was so blank that she couldn't even be thankful that her history wasn't tormenting her.
"Close your eyes and follow my voice. And don't you dare fall asleep," Genkai snapped. In a softer voice, like a hypnotist, she continued. "Ignore the ache of your muscles. That's your body. Your body doesn't matter. Strip away the feeling of the floor beneath you, the clothes on your skin, the blood pumping in your ears. Keep your breath even. Good. Don't focus on my voice; just listen.
"Find that spot in you where you can feel your emotions resting. It could be the ribcage. Maybe the stomach." Terra found what Genkai was speaking about nestled just between her breastbones. It was as if there was a glowing light inside her that she could feel bounce against the surrounding darkness. "That's your spirit energy," Genkai explained. "Now you know where to find it. Become familiar with how it feels. Explore your spirit energy. It is something alive within you that you can manipulate, but only if you truly know what it is."
Terra did her best to "become familiar" with her energy. It was weird trying to put any of it into terms. Weirder still when Genkai began giving her instruction to stretch the energy or focus it into her hands. Genkai wanted Terra to mold it to her will. Terra's energy wanted to stay firmly put.
"It doesn't want t-" Terra began to protest, but was cut off by a slap on the back of the head.
"No talking!"
Terra clamped her mouth shut and focused back on her energy. It was elastic inside of her, but empty in her hands. She tried coaxing it into her finger, reveling in the smooth tingle of the energy, when it all ran cold. A gasp escaped her lips unbidden. Before she could stop it, a wave of thoughts came flooding into her mind, panic pushing out the connection she had with the ball of light inside of her.
When Genkai spoke, it was directed past where Terra sat.
"Go away. Your energy's so angry it knocked out all the work we've been doing."
There was no response for a few seconds. Terra found herself tensing up even more.
"Hn. Pathetic."
Terra opened her eyes at the insult. She immediately regretted the decision. His eyes were an unsettling red, like looking at twin lunar eclipse. They held so much hostility that Terra shrunk back into herself and tried not to shake.
Genkai huffed angrily at the demon and turned back to Terra. "Well, now that you've completely lost it, you might as well go clean up before dinner."
Terra gratefully got to her feet, no matter how weak her legs felt at the moment. She left the room with quick steps, a knot in her gut as she was forced to walk passed the red-eyed demon.
"Why are you training that?" Hiei asked. "Even Yusuke was stronger when you took him in."
Genkai looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. "She may not have a strong body, but she has a strong will. Now you better have a good reason for interrupting me."
The rest of their conversation trailed off into nothing as Terra got further away.
Terra didn't speak at dinner. Yusuke and Keiko had arrived sometime during her training session with Genkai and they dominated most of the conversation, catching up with Kuwabara, Yukina, and Genkai. She did get teased about facing Genkai's tough training for the first time, but Terra merely grunted in response. Genkai once or twice snapped at Terra to eat more, and that was the extent of Terra's role in participation at the dinner table. No one tried to get her to talk or to smile or to be friendly.
This was the only Terra they knew: broken, distant, quiet. They weren't waiting for the old Terra to return. They weren't hoping she would become giddy and hyper. No one was expecting her to be funny or kind. Nobody looked out for her old habits as a telltale sign she was okay.
When Lorraine had visited Terra, Jeremy's mother had been in mourning as well. This hadn't stopped Mrs. Scotts from trying to make everything better, to act like everything would be hunky-dory if only they acted like they weren't missing a part of themselves. Mrs. Scotts wanted to be comforted by the familiar presence of the happy girl who dated her son. She wanted to find comfort in someone that reminded her of when her son was happy.
Terra could be her broken self around these near-strangers because they weren't expecting anything else.
It was a small blessing.
After excusing herself – Genkai finally satisfied with how much she ate – Terra made her way back to her room. Hiei hadn't joined them for dinner, which Terra had been thankful for. But his energy was unmistakable as she passed it. It sent shivers down her spine. The refuge of her room was little help as his energy could pass the walls.
Terra found the futon tucked neatly away in the room's closet. She set it up on the side opposite the wall shared with Hiei's room before she began unpacking. Terra hadn't brought much with her. It was much all the same things she had last time. Necessities, clothes she could move well in, along with a few warmer options for the winter. She also brought Jeremy's notebook, some reading material, and her iPod. It had been the only electronic device Terra had used the last few months, playing music through her shitty portable speakers as she lay listlessly in bed all day.
Despite it being an old temple, Genkai had the rooms fitted with lights, so Terra figured there must be wall plugs somewhere. She was right on that assumption, finding a socket in one of the corners. After she plugged in her iPod to charge, Terra did her nightly washing up and took out her contacts before changing into sleep clothes. She had grown used to sleeping with the low thrum of music to listen to, but tonight she was so bone-tired that sleep came easily.
At least, at first.
In her dreams, Terra wasn't haunted by her usual nightmares. This time, she was plagued by eyes as bright as burning coal and ice in her veins. Terra woke up in a cold sweat. The anger of Hiei's energy could still be felt pulsing from the room next door. Terra cursed her insistence on having a long-term fixed room. Sleep did not come easy to her, and Hiei only seemed to be making it worse. A part of her wanted to throw something at the wall. A smarter part of her feared what the demon would do if she disturbed him in such a way. Or at all.
Terra looked at the watch she had attached to her bag and groaned. It was only one in the morning.
Terra tugged a sweater over her head and slipped on her house shoes. Her urge to get away from the dark energy was greater than her love of beds and being warm. Terra headed outside, switching into her boots at the front.
With half the trees bare, the forest looked more menacing than it had that summer. The winter night wind cut at her exposed skin, but it was somehow still warmer than Hiei's energy. The roof of the temple was still coated in a thin layer of snow. It served to make the climb a bit harder than before despite being fully healed on her side this time. Still, Terra made her way up and wiped a spot clear for herself to sit.
This time, she didn't look at the stars. Terra didn't look at anything. She reveled in the icy night air and fixed her eyes on the horizon. She let the sight in without really seeing until the sun began to peak its way into the morning.
She climbed her way back down when the birds started to chirp. Only then did she realize just how cold her fingers and ears were. Terra snuck into the kitchen and turned the faucet on and ran her hands under the warm water. This was how Yukina found her. The ice apparition gave Terra a fond smile.
"Did you just come in from outside?" she asked. "It's a bit cold out for your kind, isn't it?"
Terra nodded. "Couldn't sleep. I guess the room I'm staying in doesn't quite feel like mine yet; otherwise, I would have stayed there."
"I'll warm up some miso for your breakfast before the others wake up," Yukina said, accepting Terra's muttered thanks with grace. "I've become quite fond of cooking human foods," Yukina said as she set about making rice. "I was planning on mackerel if you'd like some. I noticed your appetite was low at dinner, so if you wish to stick with the miso, I understand."
If Genkai was going to push her physically the same way she had the day before, Terra needed some protein and healthy carbs. The breakfast Yukina was preparing for the rest of the household sounded quite good, but as the soup warmed her from the inside, it filled her up too quickly. Yukina didn't push when Terra declined the offer, which Terra was thankful for. Genkai's insistence the night before had left her with a stomach ache.
By the time Terra finished her soup, Genkai had entered the kitchen.
"Good," the old woman said, as she poured herself a cup of tea that Yukina had brewed, "you're up. Meet me in the dojo in ten minutes."
Terra rinsed out her bowl and left to change. When she reached the dojo, Genkai was waiting next to a handful of tall, thin pillars.
"Today's lesson starts at the top of those poles," she said. When Genkai jumped, Terra couldn't believe her own eyes. Her movement was so fast and so fluid, it seemed impossible for the old woman to have accomplished, and yet she soared from her spot next to Terra and landed on top of a pillar that was six feet tall.
"Sorry, but I don't have jumping superpowers," Terra said in awe.
Genkai glared at the girl for a moment. Terra could only stare back, unblinking. She still couldn't understand how such a short woman had been able to clear six feet. How anyone could jump that high, no matter how tall they were. It should have been physically impossible.
"Then find a way up. I'll wait."
Six feet. Well, shit.
It took a few attempts and a bit of ingenuity, but Terra made it. The beams were close enough together that Terra was able to brace one foot on one beam and the other foot on another. She sort of shimmied herself up. Once she was at the top, it was a whole new challenge to get to standing. The surface of the pillar wasn't even big enough for one foot. How she managed it, in the end, was anyone's guess.
Terra followed Genkai's stance and balanced on the ball of her left foot. She brought her right foot up to her knee and rested her hands together on her abdomen. Sweat pooled down the side of her face and she tried not to think too hard about the possibility of falling. After the initial wobble, Terra was able to stand there for several minutes. A vigilant concentration of her body's every shift was the only thing to keep her upright.
"You do this well," Genkai mused.
"I used to dance," she said as a way of explanation. Other than the height, this wasn't much different than some of the training she had gone through as a kid. "Ballet. Since I was three. It's been a while, but I still have my balance."
"At least that explains why your legs are so much stronger than your arms," Genkai said. "Now shut up and meditate."
They stayed there until Terra's leg cramped, and then they stayed there longer. Terra nearly fell more than once and had to reposition herself on the narrow surface. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to meditate like this, and yet Genkai led her through more visualizations to help her hone her spirit energy.
Terra nearly cried when Genkai told her she could get down. The six-foot jump didn't even scare her once reaching the ground was her choice and not some accident that could break her arm. Her legs spasmed and her knees buckled. Genkai kicked her in the butt.
"Stand up. That wasn't even the hard stuff."
"Great," Terra whispered. What had she gotten herself into?
During Terra's lunch break, she didn't have a lot of time to actually eat. Not that she was particularly hungry, so she didn't mind so much. Genkai barraged Terra with a series of questions to patch together what kind of training she had gotten before and where her strengths and weaknesses lay.
It had been a while since Terra had talked about these things. She had given up dance after her heart stopped over two years ago. Although she never had aspirations to be a dancer, it was a hobby she loved dearly and often missed.
In high school, Terra had fancied herself an actor. She took intensive workshops over the summers in Perth and did community theater during the school year in Tokyo. What had drawn Terra to the world of acting had been the study of the characters they got to play. After all her youth training, Terra studied psychology at Tokyo University to better understand the minds of the people she was trying to become. In the process, Terra realized psychology was more interesting to her than being on stage.
Even still, her acting background had given Terra immense control over her body and breath. Terra explained the work she did in her movement classes to Genkai in detail, as per the old woman's needling for more information.
"Well," Genkai nodded once Terra had finished. "I can certainly use that to my advantage."
This statement worried Terra more than it perhaps should have. Genkai was proving to be as strict as Yusuke's taunts and teases had promised.
The former Spirit Detective caught sight of her during the lunchtime interrogation and laughed. "Just glad to see Granny getting on someone else's back!" he cheered.
"Yusuke!" Keiko snapped, stomping into the dining room. "You're supposed to be helping me with the cleaning. You haven't even touched the rooms set aside for the Kuwabara family!" Yusuke and Keiko had come up so early before the wedding to help with the preparations. They had to clean all the guest rooms and prepare the linens and the table settings and the decorations and the meal prep. Keiko had come with a whole binder of all the things she, Yukina, Yusuke, and Kuwabara needed to get done in the next four weeks.
Genkai snorted as Yusuke dashed away, pleading for forgiveness even as he continued to evade his task. Keiko yelled his name again and gave chase.
"I think Keiko was always better at whipping that boy in shape than me. He shouldn't be laughing so lightly when she's going to flay him for ditching on his work."
A startled yelp sounded from somewhere in the temple and Terra was sure Keiko had managed to corner her husband.
"Good. He deserved that," Terra smirked.
Genkai eyed her passively, and yet Terra got the distinct impression she was being appraised for sale. Before Terra could ask what the look was for, Genkai smiled sinisterly. "Sounds like you're ready for some of the hard stuff."
Terra gulped. She couldn't imagine what Genkai considered hard.
As the days went by, the temple became more lavished with decorations. Paper cranes hung from the hallway ceilings, chairs were set up in the largest training room, empty vases were placed strategically around the temple. Keiko promised they would look much different come the wedding, thanks to Kurama, although she didn't explain how.
Terra began to feel out of place walking around drenched in sweat and wearing yoga pants.
"I would have come later had I known the wedding was now," Terra said through a yawn. Sleep had escaped her again that night. Coupled with the morning "meditation" training Genkai forced her through, Terra was about ready to collapse. "Kuwabara's exuberant happiness is starting to leave a bitter taste in my mouth."
Genkai snorted her amusement into her cup of tea. "Well, I have to admit I'm glad for the timing. You're giving me a good excuse to get away from him, too."
Terra didn't even consider that a joke. Over dinner, they sometimes talked, but Kuwabara mostly spewed his love with the worst of the worst rom-com cheese he could manage. She didn't fault him for being in love. Quite the opposite. She was happy that love could still be found in the world. But that didn't mean she wanted it shoved in her face every time she shared the same space with the tall lug-nut.
Genkai had been taking full advantage of Terra's presence at the temple, using every spare moment to train. They did the "hard stuff" in the afternoon, which was only difficult because of the pace with which Genkai expected her to learn. Genkai was teaching Terra different styles of martial arts. The transition from yoga and dance to tae kwan do – and then other forms – was otherwise seamless. Much of it was like a dance in itself. Moving out of sequence would be a new challenge, when they got to sparring, but for now she was mastering the basics.
A bigger challenge presented itself in the physical labor Genkai had Terra performing in order to increase her strength. Most days, it hurt to move because of how far Genkai was pushing her.
Hardly able to control the spasms in her arms, Terra shakily served Genkai and herself a bowl of rice and shrimp tempura that had been made the night before. She set the plates down with a slight clatter and picked up her chopsticks. It's like fucking Kill Bill, she thought – not for the first time.
"You haven't been sleeping," Genkai remarked.
Terra shook her head. When the nightmares didn't wake her, her neighbor did. "It's kind of hard with Hiei's energy trying to choke me every night."
Genkai snarled, lip curling back to show off her yellowed teeth. "If that boy doesn't calm down soon, he's going to go crazy."
"This is him sane?" Terra asked dully. "What happened to him, anyway?"
Over the week she'd been at the temple, Terra had seen Hiei all of twice. The first time she was too mesmerized by his eyes to take anything in. The second was only the night before. Terra had been heading towards the baths to wash up and the door opened before she reached it. Hiei stood there, just out of a bath himself. He was rubbing a towel in his hair and he had been shirtless. His bored expression turned into a glare in a matter of seconds. Somehow, Terra's brain had managed to take in what she had seen before Hiei disappeared as a blur and into his room.
His torso was covered in scars. She hadn't managed to track them before he passed her, but she had noticed they were there in stark contrast to the angry red marks that hadn't finished healing.
"A lover's quarrel," Genkai mused, a hint of laughter on her tongue.
Terra rolled her eyes. She supposed even demons like Hiei could have relationship problems. From how Genkai said lover's quarrel, Terra suspected there was more to it than a simple break up. It didn't matter, either way. Terra didn't really want to get to know Hiei any better than she already did.
They sat in silence for a few moments, eating their lunch in relative peace. Genkai took a long drink of her tea.
"Your endurance has improved," Genkai said calmly. The compliment did not go unnoticed. Genkai rarely said anything positive. "You're improving quickly."
"Thanks?" Terra said, uncertain as to how she was supposed to take the old woman's words.
"I'm going to have to start pushing you harder."
"Harder?" Terra's face fell. "I didn't know there was such a thing."
Genkai smirked and took up her chopsticks again.
Well. Shit.