A Fight for the Light

The Day before the Battle

"Jin, shouldn't we be training?" I asked. "Where are you taking me?"

"Well first, we're going to find Touya. Then we's gon' t' go and take a quick look at where ye live, 'k?" He smiled as he took hold of me and floated up toward the sky. He began scanning the area for Touya.

"What!? But it was an hour-long car ride to the boat and then the boat took 3 hours to get here!" I objected.

"Well when an ocean liner takes three hours, I take a half-hour. Not sure how fast I am compared to cars though. Ah there's Touya," Jin began a nosedive decent. He scooped up Touya and went right back up into the air.

"Hi hi Touya-san," I smiled awkwardly.

"What are you scheming now, Jin?" Touya asked.

"We's gon' t' see the lass's place," Jin answered. "Just tell me which direction to go, lassie."

"To the west," I sighed.

"West! Got it!"

Jin was right. It only took us a half-hour to reach the hidden port from which our boat had departed. Then, it took us another fifteen minutes to get to the house. Other than being lugged around by the waist, it was a very nice trip.

"This is the place," I told Jin.

"It's pretty," he remarked as he landed in the backyard.

"Thanks," I smiled. "Come on inside, boys." I went to the back door and unlocked it. I pushed it open and looked around. I had almost forgotten what it looked like.

"It's very simple but I like that," Touya nodded as he glanced around. "I'd take a simple house like this over one of those huge twisted mansions those crime lord humans have."

"Yeah, when we went t' see the man who sponsored us, took us all the patience we had to find our way. We spent three hours just tryin' to find the fat ass," Jin grumbled.

"Jin, how can you say such things about our sponsor?" Touya asked.

"Because he is a fat ass! He's a stupid, corrupted, deceitful, lazy fat ass!" Jin admitted angrily.

"Aren't they all?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Yeah, guess so. 'Cept Sakyo - he's in pretty good shape. Oh an' yer ol' team's sponsor. He's prince o' hell so I doubt he's lazy or stupid an' he spends most of his time as a baby so I doubt he's corrupt or deceitful… His baby form is a bit fat though…."

"You do realize the question was hypothetical, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I realized. So, Alicia, lass, ye ready for tomorrow n'case Biggy Gama o' Risho drop dead in their sleep?" he joked.

"I suppose I am. I hope things turn out okay," I sighed.

Touya flopped down on the couch and turned on the television, "Well, it's almost noon already. How about having lunch before we go back?"

"Um well… I cleared out my fridge for the most part before we left for the tournament but we can order take out. What do you guys want?" I asked.

"Can I ha' one of those potatoes with cheese and bacon?" Jin asked hopefully.

"Yeah sure. No problem. Touya-san?" I turned my attention to the ice apparition who looked so out of place sitting on the overstuffed blue couch with his feet on the coffee table watching The Simpsons.

"Well… I don't know. I guess a salad would be nice, Alicia-san."

"Of course, what kind?"

"Um… a spring mix salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top, I suppose."

"Alright. And let's see… I'll get… a sandwich with barbeque chicken, cheese, lettuce, pickle, and tomato," I picked up the phone and dialed.

"Ew! Pickles cheese and barbeque sauce on the same sandwich!? That's sick!"

I ignored the comment and placed the order. After hanging up the phone, I turned to Jin and smiled, "That's nothing. Care to taste a drink I came up with back in the day?"

"This is one of those 'I do it or ye call me a sissy all day' sorta things ain't it?" he inquired.

"Yep," I agreed with a nod.

"Fine. Go mix up the drink," Jin went and joined Touya on the couch.

"Okay how did it go again? A third of a cup of Coca Cola, a fourth of a cup of orange juice, a teaspoon of pickle juice, half a cup of ginger ale, and viola!" I mixed the drink with a cheery grin. "Here you go Jin. Drink it down and don't let it back up!" I teased as I put down the drink before him. He took it nervously and sipped it.

"What the hell's in this bloody thing!?" he demanded. He must have been too wrapped up in the television to hear me state the ingredients when I made it.

"Pickle juice, orange juice, cola, ginger ale and that's it."

"Actually," he took another sip. "It's not that bad."

"True. The only reason we stopped drinking it is because I found a correlation between drinking that and throwing up," I smirked.

"THIS STUFF CAUSES YE TO THROW UP AND YE STILL GAVE IT TO ME!?!"

I must admit, it felt really nice to have Touya and Jin in my house. To be honest, I hope they lose the tournament but Koenma allows Jin and Touya to stay in the human world with me. I like the idea of us living together. And I must admit, if Jin moved into the house, I'd see Saki more often too. It's an across-the-board win situation. Too bad one loss can ruin all the other wins.