I am very sorry for the massive delay in this chapter. I have been throwing myself into work and finding myself struggling with doing much of anything that used to provide me comfort since my mother died, but I think that my spark is back, and at least in part, some peace has been made. I will updating more often, and I am sorry about the length of this chapter. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story, and for the reviews. You are all amazing! 3
"The average teenager is asleep until at least noon on a Sunday." Shizuru informed me, pouring her cup of hot coffee. I yawned, shrugging and sitting myself down at the table.
"The average teenager doesn't have a cousin whose snores vibrate their walls."
She smirked, turning around and handing me a bowl and some cereal. I took it gratefully, pouring myself a generous helping and digging in. She tucked in across from me, taking a long sip of her coffee and setting it next to a familiar piece of paper still resting on the table. I felt the blood drain from my face, and her eyes stared calmly into mine.
"You have a nice ride?"
"...Yeah. I rode out to the bridge outside the city and got some fresh air."
"Bring a flashlight and a knife with you?"
"A flashlight and the bat in the closet." I confirmed, directing my attention back to my cereal.
"You've been off since you came back. Kazuma's been acting strangely, fighting more often and most likely losing by the looks of the bruises he comes back with. What's going on?" Shizuru dove straight in, crossing her arms and resting them on the table. I sighed, pushing my bowl away and fiddling with my fingers.
"I'm not 100% myself. I just know that he wants to be stronger, tougher. I'm worried about what's going on with him too. I was thinking of... I don't know... following him around from here and just making sure he isn't doing anything too stupid."
She eyed me up, narrowing her gaze in on me when she picked up the half-truths I was giving her. I hated lying to her, making her suspect anything. It didn't feel right.
"I don't like it." She sighed, grabbing my bowel to take to the sink. "But if you promise me that you'll keep an eye on him and that you'll tell me if anything serious happens... I won't push too hard. But you have to swear to me that you'll keep your end of the bargain. And that if push comes to shove, you'll make him listen to you."
"I promise." I stood up, rubbing my arms awkwardly. "I'm going to clean a little. You need any help down here?"
"I just need you to make me a list of anything you need from the store. It's shopping day; I'm heading out to the store in a few minutes. Kazuma loses out this week by sleeping in."
I smirked, writing down granola bars, water, and my trail mixes, and gave her a quick hug before heading back upstairs to my room. I dusted around, put away my clean clothes, made my bed, the whole nine yards. Which took about an hour after the vacuuming was done and my bookshelf was reorganized. I clicked my tongue, wondering what else to do with my day, when I heard Kazuma's door open and close. Curiosity, maybe duty, got the better of me, and I peaked out of my room to see Kazuma dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, glancing around like a kid who knew he was going to get in trouble, and 'snuck' rather loudly down the stairs. I hesitated, but threw on my green sweater before rushing out after him. I struggled with my socks and shoes, but I was behind him in a decent amount of time, the goon not bothering to rush off after he was already outside and casually pedaling his bike. I trailed behind him, keeping a safe distance and trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.
Kazuma skirted around the edges of the city and straight into the forest, a half hour bike ride, and parked against some trees before starting a hike. I followed, being as quiet as possible and finding myself thanking Genkai for making this a cake walk, and hid behind a tree when he walked into a cleaning toward the top of the rock formation. He walked around for a few minutes, and then the sound of wood slapping against skin made me jump out of my skin, followed very closely by a yelp from Kazuma.
"Your reflexes are appalling. Block me." Hiei's voice commanded, another slap following suite. I felt my mouth fall open slightly, and I thumped my head quietly against the tree trunk. Of course it would be Hiei. Why wouldn't it be this specific demon that was training my cousin to be able to handle the upcoming tournament? It wasn't like there were a plethora of them around to get him into shape.
I winced at the hits that echoed out, Kazuma's grunts of pain hurting my heart. Tough guy or no, he was still my little cousin.
It felt like a lifetime before I sensed him falling to the ground on his knees, his hands kneading the grass and his breath short, choppy. That was the only sound for a long moment, before I felt a small breeze brush my face and my body dropped to the ground, barely avoiding the impact of a long piece of bamboo against the tree where my shoulders were just pressed. I kicked my leg out mostly out of spite, wincing at how pathetic the movement was, and felt a hand grip my ankle. Hiei stood like he was waiting for me to see that he was holding it, and then flicked his wrist casually. I squeaked, my body flipping once in the air and rolling across the grass like I was a ragdoll. Hell, to him I probably was.
"I told you not to think about what you're doing." He scolded.
I forced myself to stand up, rolling my shoulder and opening my mouth to respond when I noticed Kazuma bowling towards me and I jumped backwards in automatic defense.
"Before you say anything, you had Shizuru and I worried." I crossed my arms before he could say anything and stood my ground at his glare. "You should have told me about the tournament right when I got back, but you hid it from me. What did you expect me to do?"
"How did you know about the Dark Tournament?!" Kazuma snapped. "And if you knew about it, why didn't you say anything before now?!"
"Perché non avrei dovuto venire in esecuzione dopo che per me di dire le cose !" The infamous Kuwabara temper flared up, so I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down. "You should have told me from the start, especially since I'm in on your little world now. We're family, Kazuma, not rivals; you need to keep me in the loop if I'm going to protect you."
"I don't need you to protect me; I'm fine."
"Right, because Shizuru can't put you through the wall anytime she damn well pleases. I'm the only buffer you have right now from her kicking your ass ten ways to Sunday, and I'm tempted to let her do it with the performance you're giving."
"Like you could do better?"
"As amusing as this little human quarrel started, I'm bored and have better things to do." Hiei cut in, drawing our attention back to the real person in charge. "You, go over to the other end of the clearing and work on your defenses." He ordered me, and turned to Kazuma. "You get back in the clearing so we can continue this embarrassing display."
"I'm staying?"
"If you can skulk around in the woods spying on others, you can be put to work doing something useful." He stated, turning to waltz back to the clearing. Kazuma glared at me again, but followed anyway, muttering to himself. I stared at them for a second, and decided it would be best to simply do as the height deficient demon said.
Translation:
Perché non avrei dovuto venire in esecuzione dopo che per me di dire le cose ! = Because I shouldn't have to come running after you for you to tell me things!