Alice Alive

By, KKYOKO

Chapter Eighteen: Trouble

No attorneys,

To plead my case,

No orbits,

To send me into outer space,

And my fingers,

Are bejeweled,

With diamonds and gold,

But that ain't gonna help me now.

-Pink

I miss the next round of the Tournament. I forget the way to the stadium, and end up somewhere in the recesses of the island's forest. I suppose, tugging on Kurama's bracelet, it isn't the worst thing to happen. I don't really like a lot of fighting, and I think I want to avoid Kurama as much as possible. Remembering waking up, with him next to me, is something that makes me cringe and kick a nearby tree.

A squirrel chatters an insult at me from a high branch.

I continue my walk through the forest, still absolutely clueless as to where I am, enjoying the crisp air and trying not to think about the fight. The sun is shining brightly through the trees, and I think it's about noon. The ground crunches underneath my red ankle boots, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen any demons yet. I guess most of them are at the stadium.

I inhale and realize that the air smells a bit salty. I had been smelling nothing but pine for the last while, but I think I can smell the sea now. I must be coming close to a beach.

The trees are thinning as I walk, giving way to a rocky terrain, with angry, sharp grasses sticking up from the earth. I hear the ocean before I see it - the rhythmic rolling and crashing of waves. Once I move out of the forest and a little ways past, I can see a short beach, with golden yellow sand. Green-gray brush interrupts the small beach here and there, and I see a few shells glittering like jewels in the sun.

Even though the air is still chilly, the sun is very warm, and I find myself feeling a bit drowsy. I inspect the beach, but I don't see anything sharp, so I have a seat and watch the waves. The sea plays a game of tag with the land, rushing in and rushing out, dumping seaweed on the land as a prize for catching it. Farther out, I can see schools of silver fish caught in the green waves.

I fall onto my back, like a starfish, letting the sun warm me.

"Alice."

I open my eyes and see my mom smiling down at me. Her blue eyes, her high cheekbones, her blonde hair all stand out to me at once and I'm dazzled. "Mama?"

She holds her arms out to me and I leap in them. "Honey, I've missed you so much!" she exclaims, squeezing me tightly. I feel like I'm five years old again, and burst into tears. She trembles underneath me, and I realize she's crying too. "Nothing has been the same without you," she cries. "We all miss you so much."

"I miss you too, Mom. I miss everyone," I say into her neck.

She holds me a moment more and then pulls back to look at me. Pushing my hair out of my face, she smiles. "You look good, sweetheart. They been taking care of you here?"

I nod. "Shiori-san is great," I tell her, smiling. "I'm doing really well in school now."

She cups my cheek. "That's my girl. You were always so smart. How's everything else?"

"It's fine." I take her hand. "What about there? How's home?"

She gives a laugh. "We're plucking along as best we can. Your sisters are doing all right. I think Ann took your death the hardest though. She doesn't know how to be the oldest now…she's so used to being the middle baby. She'll get it figured out though. All my girls are smart."

"Yeah," I say, and my mom's eyes narrow at me. "I mean - yes, ma'am."

She smiles.

"How're Dad and Catherine? Are they doing all right?"

My mom scratches her head. "Well, soon as we heard what happened, your daddy went out for revenge, but the damn fool that shot you did himself in as soon as he heard the police sirens. So, your daddy never quite got the closure he wanted, but I expect hearing about this here will settle him down some. And as for Cathy, well, honey, she's so young she doesn't know what to think. All she knows to do is cry."

I sigh. "I'm sorry, Mama. If I'd been faster, he wouldn't have gotten through my door."

She shakes her head. "That's all done with now honey, and it ain't even your fault. If parents raised their children right, the world might be a better place, but even with all that - I still think it's all right." She turns her face up to the sun. "The beach is my favorite place. The Gulf is all right, but do you remember that trip we took to Florida? Those white, sandy beaches? Water as blue and clear as our eyes."

I nod. "I remember. I think everyone mistook you for a lobster though," I teased.

She elbows me, and we sunbath for a bit longer. A cloud passes over the sun after awhile, and we open our eyes.

"Storm's coming," Mama says.

I see clouds gathering in the distance. "Looks like it."

She turns to me and presses a kiss to my cheek. "Better wake up now, honey. I don't want you to get wet."

I'm jolted awake by the sky dumping buckets of water on me. The world is gray, the ocean steel-colored and rough, and rain is coming down is fast fat drops. I shiver at the freezing cold and race back toward the trees, wet hair sticking to my face. The forest canopy doesn't do much against the rain, but I stubbornly force myself onward. I have to find my way back to the hotel.

I walk back the way I think I came, but I already know it's hopeless. I'm completely lost. I shiver harder, and I know I need to find some shelter.

If I'm lucky, maybe I can find a shrine or something. I don't remember seeing any anywhere though. I don't remember anything that looked like good shelter.

After what I feel has been about an hour, I get tired. The rain hasn't let up at all, I'm still freezing, my fingers and toes are numb, and I'm starving because I haven't eaten at all today. I sit under a tree, hug my knees to my chest, and shiver my little heart out. I decide to wait until a demon comes a long to eat me, and then I can threaten him into showing me back to the hotel.

No one comes though.

And the rain doesn't let up.

I wonder how it's possible for me to be all alone in this forest, but I can't pick up a single demon on my radar. I can't hear any approaching humans over the pounding rain, the thunder, the chattering of the forest animals. I curl my hands into my chest and breathe on them, trying to warm them up.

I notice Kurama's bracelet on my wrist. Doesn't he notice me missing? Or is he so injured that he can't come? Or …is he dead…?

I practically bite my lip off at that thought.

I turn my thoughts away from him and think of my mom. I don't normally put a lot of stock in dreams, but I think there's a reason I dreamed about her. I could have had that dream ages ago, back when I first came to this world, but why now?

"Storm's coming."

Somehow, it seems like a warning.

I think I'm in a half-dreaming state when Hiei's energy comes racing across my mind. I feel like I'm in limbo. I don't even feel the rain or cold anymore.

He drops down in front of me, and I force my face up to look at him. My neck is stiff from sitting in a ball for God-knows-how-long. He crouches in front of me, and I can feel warmth rolling off of him like morning fog, and it envelopes me. His hands seem hotter than usual as they cup my face to look at me properly.

"You're freezing," he frowns.

My hands twitch toward him, moving slowly, difficultly, before gripping the front of his cloak. "I-I got l-l-lost."

Hiei doesn't wait for me to try to get to my feet. Instead, he pulls me against him, and we're suddenly flying through the air at mach speed. "No one noticed you were missing until awhile ago. Kurama is still recovering from his fights, so I came for you. Have you been in the rain this entire time?" His flat, dry voice is soothing somehow.

I nod against his neck, fighting my spastic shivering against him. I lose, and his grip around me tightens. "I-I tried t-t-to f-find my w-way b-back, but -"

"Stop talking," he snaps. "You're wasting your energy. I can already figure out what happened. A human girl wandering around an island full of demons - while it's raining in winter - are you an idiot? You're not even wearing a heavy coat."

"S-s-sorry."

He lifts his chin and presses my face against his hot neck, creating a little pocket of warmth for me there. "Didn't I tell you to stop talking?" he mutters in my ear. "We're almost there."

I feel a swoop in my stomach as Hiei lands on the wet ground, the feeling of warmth as he walks into the hotel. I have my eyes closed, but I can hear curious murmurs from people in the lobby. His arms shift around me, and I hear the ding of the elevator button as he presses it. Luckily, the elevator comes quickly, and we race up the floors.

"I'm taking you to Kurama," Hiei says. "If you're hypothermic, he can take care of you."

"But you're the f-fire demon," I say.

I can feel his jaw clench. "He'll want to see you. Don't argue."

The elevator dings and the doors slide open, and Hiei's on the move again, and we stop at the door. It swings open before Hiei can even move to turn the knob, and I hear a gasp.

"Oh, Alice!" Botan exclaims. I feel her hand on mine. "She's freezing!"

"She's been in the rain ever since it started," Hiei says flatly to Botan. I think he mostly offers this information for Kurama's benefit though.

"My god, it's been raining for four hours!"

"Is she conscious, Hiei?" I hear Kurama ask over my head.

"Yes."

I feel his hand on my hair. "Definite hypothermia," he murmurs. "Alice can you look at me? I know you're tired, but do your best. Come on."

I force my eyes open. Picking my head up is more difficult, but I eventually get my face away from Hiei's nice, warm neck and manage to look up at Kurama from under my eyelids. His face is bruised and sporting a few bandages, I note blearily, before falling back onto Hiei's shoulder.

I hear Kurama begin to give orders. "Botan, please go down to Alice's room and get her warmest clothes. She has some warm pajamas that she probably brought with her - they're purple flannel and probably thrown on her bed." I hear Botan leave. "Atsuko and Shizuru, please take her in the bathroom and get her out of those wet clothes. Keiko, there's a blow-dryer in there, in the linen closet, please dry her hair thoroughly."

I feel myself being taken out of Hiei's arms by two sets of other arms, and almost shriek with the pain of being cold again. Hiei's warmth had thawed out my numbed nerves and now the cold is assaulting them. I think my pain is showing on my face, because I hear Kurama telling them to hurry and then ordering Hiei to change.

Keiko shuts the door behind us, and Atsuko and Shizuru rip off my jacket, shoes, socks, shirt, jeans, and undergarments. They immediately wrap me in a warm towel, and then another warm towel over my shoulders. I close my eyes again, and they steady me on the side of the tub. I hear Keiko plugging in the blow-dryer and then switching it on.

A blast of hot air hits me, and I feel Keiko's fingers yank through my hair. I open my eyes again as someone clasps my hands, and I see Shizuru frowning at my feet.

"I thought you were in your room," she says. She looks away, and I can tell she's very upset. "I didn't know."

I squeeze her hands back to the best of my ability, and give her a wan smile. I feel my eyes close again, sleep dragging me down.

"She's about to pass out," I hear Keiko say, cutting the blow-dryer. "I've gotten what I can dry -"

"All of it, Keiko," I hear Kurama say on the other side of the bathroom door. "Lay her on the floor if you have to, it's fine if she sleeps."

"I-I can st-stay up," I force out.

"Is she still shivering?" he asks.

"Yes," Shizuru says. "We've got her wrapped up if you want to come in."

The door swings open and Keiko turns the blow-dryer back on, focusing on the ends of my hair.

I hear Atsuko in my ear. "Keep your eyes closed, honey. He's got a frightening expression right now."

I can sense Kurama standing still for a moment, and when Keiko cuts the blow-dryer a second time, he moves closer to me.

"Alice."

I hear Shizuru's voice. "Kurama," she says, and I can tell she's angry. "The bracelet that you put on her - that should have told you that she was in trouble, right? So does the problem lie with the bracelet or you?" she demands. "I know that we're not all blameless, but you should have been the first person to notice something was wrong!"

I open my eyes enough to see Kurama's pained expression. "The bracelet," he explains, "only transmits her status to me when her life is in danger. Otherwise, I don't know anything."

I see. And up until Hiei came for me, I wasn't quite in danger yet.

His eyes fall back on me, and he frowns again.

"I'm back!" Botan yells, bursting into the bathroom, carrying my purple pajamas. She shoos Kurama out of the bathroom and closes the door. "Let's get her dressed, girls!"

Everyone quickly pitches in, and I'm fully dressed in under a minute. I'm still freezing even though I'm dry, and sleep still has me in its grip. Shizuru pats my cheek awake and opens the door, letting the guys know that the girls are done with me.

"Give her to me," Hiei says, his hand going around my wrist. I'm immediately pulled against him, into that sweet welcoming warmth, and he hauls me up and takes me out of the bathroom. I'm shivering so hard I can't stand it, and Hiei's energy spikes and his heat output doubles.

"Open your mouth, Alice," Kurama says, sticking a old mercury thermometer in my face.

I put it under my tongue, clamping it between my chattering teeth, and bury my face back into Hiei's neck. At some point, I notice that my hands have morphed into claws, and I'm digging into Hiei's back - trying to suck out all the warmth from him I can. And even though I'm probably hurting him, he doesn't complain.

After a moment, I feel Kurama grip the end of the thermometer and tug it from my teeth.

"Thirty-three point three degrees," he announces.

That's ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit, for all you Americans out there.

"What does that mean?" Botan asks.

"Mild hypothermia," I hear Keiko answer promptly. "It's not surprising, considering how long she's been stuck in that freezing rain. I don't think it's anything to worry about though. A couple of years ago, there was a seven-year-old girl in Sweden that drowned. She had a core body temperature of fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit when they pulled her out of the water, but they managed to revive her."

"She's so pale," I hear Atsuko say.

The door opens, I hear Kuwabara breathing hard. "Hey! I brought Yukina! You can heal Alice, right?"

"I'm…I'm not so sure," Yukina says, hesitant. "I'm an ice apparition, and if I touch her, it might make it worse. But Hiei-san should warm her in no time, surely…" I hear her approach me, and can feel a wave of cold air with her. I curl up tighter against Hiei, giving a shudder, and sense her step away. "Has she eaten?"

There is silence.

"N-no," I force out, cracking my eyes open. "I l-left this morn-morning th-thinking I would eat l-later."

"She needs to eat something," Yukina says quickly. "Something hot. If she's hypoglycemic, it's going to take much longer to get her warm."

Shizuru is already on the phone, calling room service. "I need hot vegetable soup immediately, and not even God will help you if there's beef or chicken broth in it."

Botan and Keiko laugh nervously.

I feel a blanket being tucked around me, and see Atsuko above me, wearing her mom-face. "Feel better, okay honey? I'll see you tomorrow. Keiko, are you coming back with me?"

"Yes," she replies. "Yusuke's out late, isn't he?"

"Oh, he's fine," Atsuko says, opening the door. "He does whatever he likes, whenever he likes. I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

"Bye, Alice!" Keiko calls.

I manage to pick up my hand and wave a bit before returning it to Hiei's back. I'm really surprised he hasn't shown any signs of annoyance yet. I guess his feelings extend at least to not letting me die. Or freeze.

Hiei shifts his weight, and I wonder if he's feeling uncomfortable. He sits down on a couch, moving me to his side, while Kurama promptly sits on my other side. I'm immediately sandwiched between them, but no less warm. Kurama's side pressed against mine makes me recoil, and I put more of my weight on Hiei.

You're awful, Hiei. I regret ever thinking you were awesome.

He makes a slight sound of amusement, and I know he caught that thought.

Botan is watching us curiously, and I can see her filing away details to talk to Shizuru about later. Maybe she can figure Kurama out. I sure as hell can't. The corners of her mouth tug upward as my head falls back on Hiei's shoulder, and I drowsily observe the room.

Kuwabara and Shizuru are standing close together by the door, and I can hear them murmuring together. Yukina, with her heart-shaped face and soft red eyes, is watching me with a clinical air. Her long, teal locks fall over the shoulders of her kimono, and I sort of feel like I'm in the presence of a queen. I feel my eyes drift shut for awhile.

My doze is interrupted by someone shaking me awake, and the aroma of garlic and basil opens my eyes. Kurama is peering into my face and I realize that I'm not sitting up on my own at all, and Hiei's supporting all of my weight. Hiei takes me by the elbows and puts me into a more upright position, and I see there is a tray of soup in front of me. I give a shiver and reach for the spoon. I can't tell if I'm hungry or not.

As soon as I take the first bite though, I realize that I'm ravenous. The robust kidney beans, the slightly crunchy celery, the sweet pop of carrot, and the basil tomato-based broth all fill my mouth with velvety delight. The soup is hot in my throat as I swallow, and before I know it - the bowl is empty and I'm contently full.

With nothing to keep me awake - I slip into a deep, restorative sleep.

I surface, my head breaking the waves of an endless ocean, and the first thing I realize is that I'm warm again. I float somewhere along the Gulf of Mexico before I realize I'm in Florida, and my mom's waving to me from the white beach. I sink below the surface again, and play with dolphins, calling to them in their bottle-nosed language that makes me sound like I'm from Jersey. I twirl and spin with the waves, catching the sun on my hands and setting it free in the sky.

Somewhere, in a whole other ocean, I hear someone curse.

I surface again, opening my eyes and squeezing them shut again against the sunlight. I squint, and find myself clutching Hiei's warm body like a life-preserver. My head is on his chest, shoulder wedged under his arm, and my arm is wrapped around his stomach. Somehow, I know he's awake. Maybe it's the way he suddenly stopped breathing when I opened my eyes.

I pull my arm back from him and pick up my head. His red eyes are looking up at the shadowed ceiling, and the rising sunlight from the window casts a bright tint to his skin. His eyes slide over to my drowsy face, and his mouth twitches into a smirk.

"Don't comment on my hair," I say automatically. "It always looks like this in the morning."

"Just in the morning?"

Before I can retort, he sits up, and the sun lights him up completely. He's fully-clothed - wearing a dark blue sleeveless shirt, and his usual black pants. The sun brings out the blue undertones in his dark hair, and turns his skin gold. He sort of looks like an Egyptian god for a moment, but when he turns his brilliant red eyes back on me - all I can think of is Anne Rice and remember how long it took me to read The Vampire Lestat.

I think I'm still half-asleep.

"Ah, you're awake, Alice," I hear Kurama say above me.

I turn and see that he's already fully dressed, wearing another tunic, his green eyes as bright as the new day. His mouth curls up in amusement as he looks at my hair, and he reaches out to thread his fingers through it. I wince when he catches a knot, but he quickly works it out and continues his finger-combing. I don't really remember anyone combing my hair last night.

"How do you feel?" he asks, dividing my hair into three sections. I don't mind him touching my hair. He usually does this sort of thing anyway, so I'm used to it, although a part of me want to cringe away from him.

"Fine," I reply simply. I look around their room. "Where are Kuwabara and Yusuke?"

Kurama's mouth pulls into a frown as he begins to braid my hair. "Yusuke never came back last night, but Kuwabara just went down to breakfast. Perhaps he'll see Yusuke there."

I pull at my pajamas as Kurama's dexterous hands tie a red ribbon at the end of my braid. It's a bit sideways because of the way I was sitting, but it drapes down the front of my pajamas nicely. "What time does the next round start?" I ask, looking up at Kurama.

His face is neutral. "Not until the afternoon." He touches the inside of his wrist to my forehead and shoves the thermometer in my mouth again. When I try to protest, he shushes me and gives me an authoritative look. I scowl at him through the thermometer for two minutes, and wait for him to take it out. When he does, he reads my temperature with a satisfied expression and let's me know that I'm not dying.

I turn to Hiei. "Good work."

Hiei sort of rolls his eyes and gets to his feet to look out the window.

"Do you want breakfast?" Kurama asks, taking my attention away from Hiei's back.

I get the feeling that this is a test, so I nod. I'm not very hungry at the moment, but I can eat something if I have to. "I want rice and pickles," I tell him. "I'll go get dressed and then we can -"

Kurama holds up his hand, looking very stern. "You are not leaving that bed today, Alice. And so help me," he says, face darkening as I open my mouth to protest, "if you so much as stick your nose out of that door, you won't leave this room for the next three days - do I make myself clear?"

I gape at him for a moment before scowling. "Who died and made you king of the world?" I demand.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Alice, we have this argument every time you're sick. You'll go and do what you want as usual, even though I tell you to stay in bed and recuperate, and then you'll end up more ill than you were to begin with. Perhaps if you think about it and remember, you'll see a pattern."

I huff at him. "I feel fine."

"Famous last words," he replies tartly. His eyes narrow. "I refuse to spend the morning arguing about this. If I come back later and find that you have been outside that door - I'll tie you to this bed. Do you understand?"

I feel my eyes shoot daggers at him. My jaw clenches in anger. "I missed the last round - this isn't fair! Why are you so bossy?"

He gives me the same look a parent would give their child having a temper tantrum.

"I don't have to listen to you anyway," I grumble in annoyance. I slide off the bed and go to the door, but as soon as I come within six inches of it - green vines suddenly explode up and cover the door behind a thick wall. I stare at the vegetation a moment, and turn around to give Kurama the deadliest glare I can muster. "Why are you so awful?" I ask him.

He sighs at me, looking out the window. "I suppose if being awful means being concerned about your health, then I suppose I'm the worst person on earth. I'm concerned as well that the round will overexcite you and you'll faint -"

I hold up my hands. "Wait, wait, wait. When have I ever fainted?"

Kurama holds up two fingers. "Once in Maze Castle, and once when we got back from hearing the news about your future - although, I suspect the dog had something to do with that." He shifts his weight. "Also, you don't want to be sick for the next few days, do you?"

I sigh at him. "Whatever. I still don't see the point in keeping me here."

"Your health isn't important?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm saying you have another motive," I retort, sweeping my eyes across the room. There are food wrappers and crumbs around the kotatsu in the middle of the living area, and Yusuke and Kuwabara have their stuff strewn out everywhere. "I've probably been exposed to whatever's in here, sure, but this still isn't a very sterile place for a person with a supposedly weak immune system."

Kurama frowns and looks away. I can see he's hiding something from me.

Hiei turns from the window, scowling at Kurama. "Since he's just going to dance around it - I'll tell you. He doesn't want you to see him get hurt."

I blink and step toward Kurama. "That's what this is about? Didn't we have this conversation before, Kurama?" I stop before him, hands on my hips, looking up at his face. "I said to prefer me worried, didn't I?"

He sighs, but I can still see his resolve to keep me in this room. "There is another matter of course."

"What else could there be?" I demand, confused.

He looks away again. "You have business with Sakyo, don't you?"

I stare at him, wide-eyed. He overheard my conversation with Shizuru? So did he hear everything then? "How do you know about that?" I ask, feeling my cheeks grow hot with rage. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

His eyebrows go up. "Regardless, I did hear it. I won't let you go near him, Alice." His hand goes around my wrist and his face stops an inch in front of mine. Trying to focus on his eyes makes me dizzy because he's so close, so I slide my gaze to the side, which probably makes me look like I'm not listening. "He's a dangerous man," Kurama continues. "He's one of the reasons we're in this tournament."

"Don't get so close to me," I say, twisting my wrist out of his grasp and stepping back. Kurama straightens and frowns. "I'm going to do whatever I want, whether or not you approve. I don't know what's making you act like you're my keeper or something, but just stop it."

Kurama's expression darkens. "Alice. I'm trying to protect you."

"You're smothering me! You're like…like this huge smothering mother hen! Don't laugh!" I snap, as his dark expression cracks and his hand covers his mouth. His shoulders are shaking with the effort to keep from laughing. "You're awful!" I say angrily, slamming the bathroom door behind me.

I slide down the bathroom door and sigh into my knees.

"If you're trying to make her hate you, you're doing a fantastic job," I hear Hiei say quietly.

"That's not it," Kurama mutters.

By the time five o'clock rolls around, I've already figured out that I can blast Kurama's youki out of his plants guarding the door; making them fall to the floor, limp and lifeless. I'm walking out of the hotel, feeling like a bit of a badass, especially after stopping by my room and getting dressed properly. Unfortunately, my red ankle boots were ruined by the rain, so I'm wearing a pair of silver pumps. I know you must be thinking: Gee whiz, Alice, you're in the woods - why do you wear heels so much?

It's more of an ego thing really. I like to pretend I'm tall.

The new stadium isn't too far away from the hotel, so luckily I don't get lost. Again. Sticks crackle underneath my shoes, and I listen to the bird calls and the squirrel chatters as I walk down the path to the stadium. The sun shines through the leaves, lighting the orange leaves on fire.

A large energy comes across my radar, and I follow it, turning around the corner of the path. Keiko is sitting next to Yusuke by a tree, and as I approach, his weight sags and his head drops down on Keiko's boobs.

I give her a Cheshire Cat grin when she looks up at me. "Having fun?" I ask.

Keiko blushes as she fights down her embarrassment. "What are you doing here? After last night, I thought Kurama would never let you see the light of day again."

"Kurama's plants make surprisingly poor guards," I reply with a smile.

She frowns and looks back up at me. "He seemed really worried about you, you know."

I sigh, shoving my hands in the pocket of my jacket. I drive the toe of my pump in the ground and scowl to myself. "I don't understand what's going on in his head, Keiko, and I'm really tired of trying. He's just so…so…so stupid."

Keiko laughs at me.

"What this? Seems we've got a couple of flirts here!"

A 'ping' on my radar lets me know there are three very low-class demons behind me. I turn, and see a pig type, a monkey type, and what I think is a fish type. They come out of the brush and move closer to us, leering.

"Wanna come play with us, little girls?" Monkey asks, looking inappropriately hungry.

Fish reaches out and snatches my wrist, yanking my arm out of my pocket and jerking me close to him. I nearly lose my balance on my heels, but I catch myself and try to pull out of his grasp. His scaly hand cuts into my bared forearm and I growl at him. "Well?" he asks, hovering in my face.

"Hey! That's Urameshi!" Piggy exclaims.

"No way!" Monkey says, amazed.

Fish drops my arm and leans down to examine Yusuke, ignoring me. I look down at my arm and see tiny slices of flesh bleeding from where he snagged my skin on his scales. I feel my blood pressure rise with rage.

"This is worth the risk," says Fish. "Urgh…!" He turns a strange color as my viridian coils wrap around him like a kraken's tentacles.

"Yeah, we have a real chance - if we get rid of him!" Monkey exclaims, not sensing Fish's pain.

Fish suddenly explodes, sending his guts all over Piggy and Monkey. They scream.

"Ah! He's dead!"

"It's Urameshi!"

"Who knew he'd be this strong when he was asleep?"

They dart off into the woods calling apologies over their shoulders.

I feel my fists twitch. "You assholes! It was me! Come back here so I can kill you too!" I shout after them.

"Doesn't like to be outshined, does she now?" I hear behind me. I turn around and see Chuu and Rinku.

"Haha, guess not," Rinku replies, twirling a yo-yo in his hand.

I blink, surprised to see them. "Hi?" I ask. I was too distracted by the three stooges to notice their energy signatures.

"We were 'bout to step in, but you did a good enough job of scarin' them away, girlie," says Chuu, taking a drink out of a sake bottle in his hand. At least I think it was sake.

"Oh, thanks," I say, turning to look after the running demons. I nearly jump ten feet in the air though because Jin is standing right next to me, smiling. His blue eyes fall on my arm that Fish scratched up, and his eyes widen. He catches my hand.

"Ah! You're bleedin'! Touya, you got some o' those bandages left?" he asks, Kansai accent pouring out of his mouth. Jin's face is frantic; he looks like he's trying to treat a car crash victim instead of a few measly cuts. "Hurry, Touya! I'm not sure more blood she can stand to lose!"

I burst into laughter. I can't help it.

"Quick! She's delirious!"

"Relax, Jin," Touya sighs, passing him a roll of bandages. "Humans don't die from a few scratches like that." He pauses. "I think."

Jin quickly wraps the bandage around my arm and ties it off. He takes my shoulders and gives me a shake, blue eyes wide. "Live! Live little human foreign girl! Live like the wind!"

I force words out between my laughter. "I'm not - not going to die!"

"That's the spirit!" he exclaims, patting the back of my hand. He leans down, closing the distance between our faces. I hear Chuu and Rinku talking with Keiko, and in the corner of my vision I see a little flutter of Jin's ear. "This is my first time meetin' a foreigner!" he exclaims. "I'm glad you're a girl!"

I blink. "Why?"

His hands go around my arms and I'm pulled against him, and I suddenly know what he's about to do. His mouth covers mine in an instant and I freeze. He has a soft mouth, I think. His lips are a bit wind-chapped though. He pulls away, dancing in place.

"Touya, didja see that? She kissed me!"

I snap out of my daze. "You kissed me, you jerk!" I shout, swinging my foot at him.

He dances out of my kicking range and drops down in front of Yusuke. "Ah! Our boy here has gotten stronger!"

Chuu puts his hands on his hips and stretches his back, looking somewhat proud. "I think that I can do nothing against him now," he says wistfully.

"You've already lost against him!" Rinku points out.

Chuu cuffs him on the head.

Jin pulls on Yusuke's cheek, stretching it as far as it can go. Yusuke's so tired that he doesn't even wake up. "He's like a kid when he's sleepin'!" Jin remarks, completely carefree. He doesn't seem the type to respect someone's personal space, I gather.

Yusuke pushes Jin's hand away. "Nng, Keiko, you're annoying!" He slips from his seated position and falls over Keiko's lap. "That's enough," he mutters into her thigh.

Keiko's face is tomato-red and Chuu and Rinku burst into laughter. I sort of feel bad for her, so I try not to laugh.

"I'm going in," I say, taking the attention off of her and Yusuke. "Will you be okay?"

She looks uncertain.

Chuu catches her expression. "Oh, I'll stay out here with ya - I don't mind."

"Me too," Rinku says, straightening up and sticking his chest out proudly.

Touya shrugs. "I don't mind either."

Jin gets to his feet, putting his hands behind his head. "In that case, I'll be goin' in to see the match then." He turns to me knowingly. "It's not safe for a girl to go in a place like that alone, you know. Even if you can make them creepers explode everywhere."

I try not to roll my eyes and give Keiko a wave. "See you later." I give her an evil grin, gaze falling on Yusuke.

She gives me a dirty look.

I turn and head into the arena, Jin falling in step beside me. I can hear the crowd growing louder as we make our way down the corridor. My heels echo against the walls, reminding me of an AFI song.

Jin clears his throat. "So, how long have you known Urameshi?"

"I'm not talking to you."

Jin's face kind of falls and he adopts a kicked puppy look. "Oh…am I not good at kissin' then?" he asks, depressed. "I s'pose I could get more practice, then I could come back and give it another go."

I stop, turn, and stare at him. "I don't think we're on same page. I'm not exactly sure where you got the idea that foreigners kiss when they meet someone new, but we don't do that."

He looks confused, blinking his huge blue eyes at me. "But it's in all the manga! I saw it!"

"It's not true," I tell him, turning and moving toward the end of the corridor again.

Jin gives me a thoughtful look, which looks a bit silly on his boyish face and rises as the air picks him up. He folds his legs up Indian-style and floats along beside me. "Then I guess you're a bit ruffled from that. Sorry, then. It's jus' - you were pretty when you were laughin'. And then I thought that kissin' you wouldn't be so tough."

"Please stop talking," I mutter, growing even more uncomfortable.

Jin obliges, with a sulky expression, and then we come to the end of the corridor. The crowd is spread before us in sloppy lines, in at least four different levels, and the lights are bright on the center stage where Genkai is fighting a clown. I tear my eyes away from her and try to spot Botan or Yukina, figuring that either one of them will be easiest to spot in a large crowd. However I seem to forget that the demon race is incredibly exotic, and settle for looking for Shizuru or Atsuko.

Jin shoves his hands in his pockets and patiently stands beside me.

After a few minutes of squinting and looking carefully, I'm pretty sure I see the back of Shizuru's head. A girl with a blue ponytail tied high on her head is sitting next to her, so I'm about ninety percent sure I found my target. She's two columns over to my right, and I don't even want to count how many rows back.

"I think I see my friends," I tell Jin.

"I'll come with you," he says, a pout still hinting around his mouth.

I shrug and start moving right. The crowd screams as Genkai is thrown out of the ring, and I stop for a moment, watching with trepidation. Happily, she gets back on her feet with smirking ease, tossing the clown's ruby round nose in her hand. She goes back in the ring with a vengeance.

"Nervous there for a moment, weren't you?"

I look down and see that I, by some stupendous luck, serendipity, or fate, have stopped right next to Sakyo's seat. He's looking very blasé, smoking a cigarette and watching me with a smirk. I wonder what he's doing here, in the middle of the crowd, when he could or should be sitting in the VIP section. He's sitting in the column next to Shizuru's, but he's on the opposite side, so he likely hasn't seen her yet.

I want to be sure though, so I tilt my head at him. "Have you see Shizuru?"

His smirk widens into an ironic smile. "Have you?"

He's playing with me. I have to play the game better though. "If I see her, I suppose I'll send her over here," I say lightly with a shrug, as if I couldn't care less.

A dark amusement crosses his face. "You do that," he returns.

I turn on my heel and continue to Shizuru's column, Jin shoots me a questioning look. He didn't make a peep when I was talking, but stood beside me towering over Sakyo, but Sakyo didn't appear all that intimidated of course.

"What was that all about?" he asks when we're out of earshot.

I raise my eyebrows at him. "You never played Cupid before?"

He saunters down the steps beside me. "I'm thinkin' you're in over your head with that one."

I laugh. "I'm always in over my head."

We come to Shizuru's row and I can see that it's definitely her and Botan. Yukina and Atsuko are on the other side of Botan, but I couldn't see them because the were hidden by tall demons behind them.

"Hey," I greet.

They all look up at me, and Shizuru looks the least surprised. She merely sighs while Botan gapes at me in a mixture of outrage and concern.

"Alice, what on earth are you doing out of bed?" Botan demands, getting half up out of her seat. Yukina looks around her and frowns at me. Atsuko, ever the easy-going mom, just raises her eyebrows and shrugs. "Do you know how concerned we were for you last night?" Botan continues, angrily. "You were hypothermic!"

"I feel fine, Botan," I say, cutting her off before she could go any further. I look at Shizuru and give her a winning smile. "I have a present for you."

"Oh?" she asks, eyebrows disappearing in her bangs.

I point my thumb over my shoulder. "He's on the other side of that column of seats. First row in the back."

She smiles. "I see." Her eyes drift up to Jin's face and then snap back to mine in a silent question. I shrug at her. She gets up and turns to look at the other girls. "I'll be right back."

Botan gives her a pout and slumps in her seat. Yukina gets to her feet and moves around Botan, leaning against Shizuru's empty spot on the bench. She looks up at me, large red eyes softening on my face.

"You really feel all right?" she asks gently. Her eyes fall on my over-bandaged arm with surprise. "What's this?" Her hands go around my wrist lightly, holding my arm like fine china.

"Oh, just a few scrapes. Jin was overzealous with the bandage," I tell her, patting her hand. "Later when we go back to the hotel, would you heal it for me? It's fine now, but if Kurama sees the bandage, I'm afraid he'll rip out all of his hair."

Yukina hides her smile behind her hand. "Of course," she says, composing herself.

"And the winner is Genkai!" Juri announces.

I look down at the arena and see the clown looking like a crime scene victim from CSI, and Genkai pushing her dusty pink hair out of her face. There is a twinkle in her brown eyes, and her smirk is sardonic. In that moment, I see her pride, her beauty, brilliant like the rising sun.

Botan gets to her feet. "I'd better go check on Koenma."

Atsuko downs the last of her beer and gets to her feet too. "S'pose I better go make sure Yusuke's all right."

"I'd better go check on Shizuru," I say, backing away, hoping no one will follow me. I give Jin a hard look, but he only blinks at me.

"What's Shizuru doing?" Yukina asks, curiously. "Did she not feel well?"

My mouth opens and closes as I try to think of something to say that doesn't sound overly suspicious. "I think she went to go find Kuwabara," I decide on finally.

Yukina's eyes narrow ever so slightly, and I realize she's just as perceptive as her brother. She knows I'm lying.

I turn and dash away before she can say anything.

"Oi!" Jin yells.

I grimace and hope Jin doesn't follow me up the stairs - not that I'm getting along very quickly anyway. My heels are slowing me down, but there's so much shit on the ground I'm afraid to take them off. I finally reach the landing and glance over my shoulder. Jin's looking up at me with surprise and I can see Yukina and Botan frowning in my direction. I give them a jaunty wave and head off to where I saw Sakyo last, knowing that I am going to be grilled about my behavior later.

When I get to the other side of the column though, neither Sakyo nor Shizuru are around. I grin, figuring that they went to go find a private place to be alone together.

I'm fucking Cupid, man. Yes!

I giggle with glee and head back around the column to see if the girls are still over there. They are, standing on the staircase, but to my lurching stomach, Kurama is standing with them now. I slowly back away, but it's too late. Kurama's forest green eyes have already snapped up and spotted me.

His face turns stormy.

I wonder if I start running now if I can possibly make it out of the arena before he reaches me.

I doubt it though, because when he starts striding up the steps, it's impossibly fast. I forgot for a moment that he's a demon. He takes the steps several at a time and by the time I count to three, he's already in front of me.

I dillydallied too long. I shouldn't have come back here. Damn it.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, grabbing my wrist so I can't run away. I can see him pushing his anger back for my sake, and his expression mellows. His hold around my wrist doesn't slacken though.

"Um," I say intelligently. "I guess…I was bored?"

Kurama's free hand goes up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Allow me to rephrase the question. How did you manage to leave the room?"

"Oh, I killed your plants. Sorry."

~BONUS SURPRISE~

Kurama's point of view, lovelies.

I climb the steps up to the stands, knowing that the girls (aside from one in particular) are all sitting above us somewhere. A scent floats to me, the smell of a familiar lilac hand lotion that Yusuke's mother uses. It cuts through the other smells of the arena, floating above the metallic blood, the alcohol, and the smoke. It leads me to the girls standing on a staircase right above the ring, and the wind shinobi, Jin, standing with them.

Yukina straightens up with surprise when she sees me and exchanges an uncertain look with Botan. Botan's pink mouth presses into a flat line and she shrugs. I notice Shizuru is missing from the group.

"Everyone all right?" I ask, warily.

"Oh, of course," Yukina answers immediately. I can still see her hesitating with something though.

Atsuko's eyes sweep around the area. "Where did Alice go?" she asks. "That girl is like a ghost - here one minute and gone the next."

Ah.

I see.

Botan and Yukina exchange a small grimace. Sensing someone else's horror, I look up to see Alice standing at the top of the staircase like a deer caught in headlights. She edges back, heels (heels) scraping back against the concrete. Her hips seem to ever so slightly wiggle (indecently) as she wonders whether or not she should bolt.

I'm not having that at all.

I close the gap between us faster than she expects, judging by the flash of desperation in those dark blue eyes of hers. I wonder if she realizes how much emotion she displays in times like these. What could she be thinking? Certainly she isn't dense. She should know better than to venture out into a demon-infested island alone.

My hand wraps around her tiny wrist before she can run away at the last moment. I tower over her, using every inch of my height to intimidate her. Her mouth presses together in a soft line, and I can tell that I'm making her edgy. When I open my mouth, she winces as if I'm going to hit her.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, forcing my expression into something more mild. I keep my hold on her wrist though. Alice can be …squirrelly… when forced into corners.

By the sudden twitch in her arm, I know she isn't going to give me a straight answer. "Um, I guess…I was bored?" she asks, voice moving up into an innocent soprano.

I can feel a mild headache coming on. There was no way for her to get out of our hotel room's window, considering it doesn't open and it's ten stories in the air, so she must have found a weakness in my plants. Although, considering the nature of her powers, I suppose it isn't that surprising that she managed to get past them. I was idiotically hoping that she wouldn't even try.

Boredom, she says. Honestly.

"Allow me to rephrase the question," I say, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "How did you manage to leave the room?"

Her voice returns to her regular alto tone. "Oh, I killed your plants. Sorry."

I knew it.