FANG: okay, here it is folks!
DISCLAIMER: i do not own YYH!
The sunrays lazily crept into a sleeping girl's room. Her form lay motionless under the covers of her bed, soundly dreaming about the day the big soccer game, which she had been training all term for, would soon come. Today, was that day.
Toshi eyes cracked open slightly after stirring from a deep slumber. Her black hair lay sprawled behind her caressing the pillow; her dark brown desert eyes gazed at the sunlight coming from her window. For a while she lay there, gathering her thoughts for the day. There wasn't really much she had those anime characters living in her room in a miniature form of Genkai's temple, she had to help them find that demon, and she had her game-- the game!
Toshi sat up in bed and quickly excited making her way into the bathroom. The game, how could she forget about the game! It was the one thing the whole school had been looking forward to all year and what her teammates have been practicing mercilessly for the past few months. She hopped into the shower, washed, and came out drying her hair. It was the game of the season, so far her school has been winning the other games, but they were small fry compared to the her school's rival, Santisiki High School. They played dirty and were sometimes known to go to extreme lengths just to win, like injure a person by accident to bribing the referee; they were sly slick rule breakers. Last year, they won, but this year Toshi knew her team was winning this time. She had practiced to hard not too!
Still keeping in mind about her 'little' people Toshi went into the room taking out her clothes and went back into the bathroom to change. Later she came out wearing her soccer uniform, which included the red and white shocks, the red shorts with white stripes at the side, the shirt with the schools symbol on it. A tiger with a soccer ball added to the front and her number, 19, printed in bold on the back. She took out her duffel bag and started to pack the things needed. She heard noises coming from the temple, her friends were waking up.
'I better go make some breakfast,' Toshi thought standing and exiting the room quietly. She made her way downstairs, stopping at her brother's door to see if he was awake. No noise. 'Maybe food will wake him up.'
She clicked on the kitchen light and went over to the stove turning it on. She placed some tea on and started to make breakfast. After cooking bacon, eggs, rice, and some fresh squeezed orange juice, her brother finally came down stairs fully awake and dressed for the day. Trey yawned and stretched as he went over to his sister. "Good Morning."
She gave him a 'good morning' smile and continued cooking. "Sleep…well?"
"You could say that," he said placing his hands flat behind his head. "I mean, you have that big game today against Santisiki High. You know how they play."
Toshi only nodded, remembering that last time one of her teammates got hurt pretty badly that she got a sprained ankle. She even had to have surgery. Not that she was afraid or anything like that but they can be very dangerous and very cocky.
"If they try anything to hurt you, no mercy," her brother threatened dangerously cracking his knuckles. Toshi sweat dropped. Sometimes her brother can be a little over protective. "You…"
He smirked at her. "I see you're all ready." Toshi nodded happily and twirled around to show him. "Like?"
"Much, although it shows off your big butt," he teased. Toshi felt a vein throb in her head. "Trey…"
"I mean, I'm surprised you haven't destroyed the city with that thing," he continued giving off a cat smirk while looking in another direction as his sister bubbled red from embarrassment.
"Trey!" Toshi yelled at him. He only laughed. Toshi knocked him with the rolling pin causing his eyes to go all swirly. 'Really, sometimes his jokes are mean,' she thought angrily going back to cooking.
"Hey…is…mom…going…to…?" Toshi asked her brother resting down his food and hers on the table. He picked up a piece of bacon and popped it in his mouth while using the other to rub the big bump that formed on his head. "I can't say. She has that business trip with the design department remember."
Toshi nodded, nearly forgetting how a busy woman their mother was. She was a beautiful lady who designed clothes for the famous fashion line in America, not to mention she was the boss of that department, which meant she checked others designs and handle all the complicated business for the company. Kind of like a secretary. Most of the time her busy work meant time away from family, and more on trips to different companies selling broadcasting designs with their logos and selling. But just because she didn't spend, as much time on work she did with them didn't mean that they didn't love her. In fact, Toshi looked up to her mother as an ideal model. How successful and important and brave she is, Toshi wished she were like that sometimes.
Picking up her plate, Toshi looked at her brother who was watching her reaction, he knew how much she wanted her mother there, and smiled. "It's…okay…" he didn't look to convince but let it go as she went upstairs. The guys must be up and hungry.
Toshi opened her door and closed it behind her. "Hello…?"
Kuwabara poked his head from around the bed. "Toshi!"
She smiled and went over to him. "Morning…brought…breakfast…" she said placing the food down. Kuwabara laughed goofy and went to go and retrieve the guys. "Hey! FOOD!"
Toshi sweat dropped as she saw Yusuke dash forward and start stuffing his mouth. Kurama came next, said good morning and started eating to. Kuwabara soon came followed by Hiei. He glared at Toshi who 'eeped' and started to sweat. "Hn'. Baka onna."
"Hey, this American food is great!" exclaimed Kuwabara shoving a handful of rice in his mouth. "Dehwishous!" Toshi blushed a little from his comment.
"You have that game today, am I correct?" asked Kurama looking at her outfit. Toshi nodded. "I suppose that while we're there we should investigate," he added thoughtfully.
Toshi wondered how such small people were going to handle such a big case. They weren't really in a good situation being small in all. Why she could smash them right now into pancakes if she wanted to. They were vulnerable in this case.
A tapping at her window drew her attention. What she saw almost made her faint. There, floating outside her window on an oar, was Botan. Her blue hair was in her normal ponytail and her pink kimono was looking…pink. Her eyes scanned inside the room. When she spotted the wide-eyed girl she smiled and waved her over. Toshi only lifted a limp fingered and pointed. "Ahhhh….ahh…ah…" she squeaked.
Yusuke looked up from his food. "What's wrong Toshi?"
"B-B-B…B….B…B-B-B…" stuttered Toshi. Yusuke raised an eyebrow and turned to see what she was looking at. "Hey, it's Botan!"
Toshi got up and walked over opening the door and stepping to the side letting her in. Botan landed on the floor and made her oar disappear. She looked about the place. "Well, isn't this a cozy little place?" she turned to face Toshi. "Hi there, I'm Botan, but I guess you already knew that! Koenma sent me to help you. You must be Toshi."
Toshi only nodded, lost of words. Botan was here! The Grim Reaper! But she couldn't help but wonder how come she's tall and not short. Botan clapped her hands together and smiled. "Now were are the boys?"
The stunned girl pointed down at the empty plate of food where the others stood. Botan looked down and was silent for a while. Then giggles stared to come out of her, then it turned into laughter. "Hahahahahahah!"
Everyone: sweat drop.
"What's so funny Botan!" yelled Yusuke.
"I'm sorry," laughed Botan. "It's just so funny to see mini version of you guys, and a even minier version of Hiei!"
The next thing she knew, Botan was ducking his Darkness of the Flame attack. It hit Toshi's curtains and burnt, yeah burnt again, them to ashes. "Hey!" Toshi yelled about losing her favorite curtains.
Botan sweat dropped and laughed nervously as Hiei growled at her. "Baka onna! Stop fooling around and tell us what news you have from Koenma!"
She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him like he couldn't take a joke. But this was Hiei, the only jokes he made were about killing you, he doesn't kid about that. "Alright, Mr. Grumpy."
By this time the others had made there way on Toshi's bed for a better view and now Kuwabara was trying to comfort Toshi who was crying animanly about her lost curtains. "My…curtains…"
"What does Koenma have to say?" asked Kurama.
"Well, he sent me to say that the demon might be out at Toshi's game today and at your current state you don't stand a chance," Botan began. "So he dug around in some files and found a nice little spell for you to grow to your normal height, but it isn't permanent and you can only use at such a time."
"Well that stinks," Kuwabara mumbled sitting on Toshi's knee. "We're just gonna get small again."
"Yes, and that still leaves us at a disadvantage," Kurama added. "Plus, we still need time to collect more information on this demons plans."
"Well, how do you expect us to do that if were stuck as the four little munchkins?" Yusuke asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I'm not to keen on the idea of becoming shoe scum."
"Were trying our best Yusuke but our hands are full in Renkai," Botan explained.
"What's happened?" asked Hiei.
"Since you guys are gone lower class demons are popping up causing trouble in the human world," Botan said looking at the ground. "It's just been horrible. There's been nothing to stop them and they're on a rampage. You don't know how hard it was for me to get here with all the souls I have to bring back to the Spirit World."
Toshi felt sympathy for her. She knew how hard this must be for her being there all by herself without the guys there to help her. And Koenma…he must be swamped with papers. The very idea of it caused Toshi to squirm uncomfortable, cause half of this was her fault in the beginning. "How…did…you…get…here…in the…first…place?"
Botan looked up and at her. "Well, you see, you have your world and we have ours in the exact same places, just in different dimensions."
"…Huh?" asked Yusuke, Kuwabara and Toshi together confused.
"What Botan is saying, is that the locations are the same, so if you went to Japan you would be in your dimension but it would still also be Japan in ours," explained Kurama calmly. He found this problem quite interesting to solve. "Understand?"
The look of confusion still stuck to Kuwabara's face. Toshi and Yusuke on the other hand got it and nodded their heads.
"Yep! I just popped through a different time warp and was able to come here in big form!" Botan chirped smiling making Kuwabara freak out a little. "Besides that, I brought some supplies for you. Right now, though, you just concentrate on the mission at hand. And be careful, we don't know how powerful he is but rumor has it he's strong."
"How strong?" asked Hiei.
Botan scratched her cheek in thought. "Oh, about almost stronger than Toguru strong."
"What!" cried Kuwabara and Toshi together. They looked at each other nervously. "That's pretty strong," added Kuwabara. Toshi nodded in agreement.
"What about the lose demons?" asked Yusuke, concerned for his friends and family back home. Without him there to protect them he felt utterly hopeless.
"Koenma's trying to find help, but it's not easy to find someone strong enough to handle that much demons," Botan said. Toshi tapped her chin thoughtfully until a brilliant idea came to mind. "What…about…team…Masho?"
They all looked at her questionably.
"Who?" asked Kuwabara.
"Team…Masho….You know…Jin…Touya…Chu…and….Rinku…"Toshi said.
"Toshi that's a great idea, why didn't we think of that before!" Botan cried, happy that she wouldn't have to deal with this all alone. "I'll get them to help. They're strong and I'm sure Koenma will find some way to persuade them to do it!"
Toshi couldn't help but smile a little. She sure was happy. Botan made her oar appear and hopped on. "I'll go tell Koenma now!" She zoomed off, forgetting one important thing.
"Botan, come back and give us that spell!" Yelled Yusuke at the retreating form of the fairy girl. "BOTAN!"
Toshi sat on her bed twirling a piece of her hair between her fingers. She was waiting for the others to make their decision. When Botan left in such a hurry she forgot to leave the spell. So they had to figure out they would make it throughout the day. Toshi sighed. What were taking them so long?
'Maybe I could help them somehow,' she thought looking at the door. 'Maybe…I could be of use.'
Toshi thought on this some more. What could she do? Well, she could sew, but that wont help in any way. She could help them get around when their small…. yeah, that could work, she could be some type of transport for them. This made Toshi feel a bit better. She didn't like to feel helpless or worthless. She got up and walked over to her closet. Reaching up, Toshi was able to get an old wooden box with nicely carved in designs of two swans that had their necks encircled with each other. It was Toshi's prized possession, and so were the treasures inside.
Humming, Toshi went next to her bed and sat down, resting the wooden box in front of her. For a while she admired the handiwork that her father had made. That's right, her father made it before he….
"Hey, Toshi!" came the cry of Kuwabara as he walked up to her. He smiled goofily at her. "What are you doing?"
"Oh…nothing...just…getting…something…" she told him smiling. Kuwabara blushed and looked at the box. "What's that?"
Toshi lifted him up and placed him next to it. Kuwabara poked and studied it. "It's a box."
Toshi opened the box, letting a melody float out. Inside, little trinkets and pictures could be found, Toshi's treasures. She reached in and pulled out a little silver bracelet with the planets circled around it. This was one of her favorite items in the box.
"Wow, that's pretty," Kuwabara said looking at the item Toshi was holding. "What is it?"
"It's…a…bracelet…my…father…gave…me…" Toshi explained holding it up eye level.
"What happened to your dad?"
The music played around Toshi like a spell of comfort. It always did that to her. She watched the planets, Jupiter especially, as it twirled around on the silver chain shinning in the light. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at it. It always seemed to put her in a trance. "My…father?"
"Hey, Toshi you okay? You look a little dazed," Kuwabara asked a little worried. Toshi blinked and shook her head. She replaced the bracelet back in the box and took out her good luck charm, a cute little cat pin. Closing the box Toshi got up and put it back in the closet on the top shelf.
"Hey, Toshi! It's time to go!" cried Trey from downstairs.
"Okay!" Toshi cried back. She fastened her good luck charm on her shirt and went back to Kuwabara who was now accompanied by the others. "Huh?"
"We've decided to go with you today to your game," Kurama told her. Toshi almost fainted. She knew this was going to happen, but the shock of it was still present. "But…how…?"
"Don't worry Toshi, I'm sure you'll find a way," Kuwabara reassured her. Toshi still was unsure about this. What if they got hurt?
"We have to keep an eye out, and it's the perfect opportunity to look around," Yusuke said looking at her reaction. "Plus, I like to see you play."
"Yeah, your gonna beat their butts!' Kuwabara agreed striking a pose. Toshi sweat drop. 'So weird.'
"GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE TOSHI YOUR GONNA BE LATE!" Hollered Trey making Toshi jump. She mumbled under her breath. She sighed and got her backpack, dumping all her stuff in the closet. Maybe they could ride in this? "In…here…then…"
"You have got to be kidding me," Hiei scowled looking at the bag. Toshi gulped when he looked at her. 'He really is scary.'
"I am not degrading myself by ridding in that," he spat as Kuwabara and Yusuke jumped, well actually Yusuke tossed Kuwabara, into the backpack. Kurama looked at his hot-tempered friend. "Come now Hiei, this might possibly be the only way."
"Hn." Hiei folded his arms across his chest. "Not happening."
"Fine, then, you stay here while we go," Kurama said calmly.
"Hey, I found some gigantic stick of bubble gum!" came the shuffled voice of Kuwabara. "Mmmh, watermelon."
"Hey, give me some of that!" Yusuke cried.
"Nuh, uh Urameshi, get your own!"
A few landing punches and shouts soon followed. Hiei glared at Kurama. "You actually expect me to travel with those buffoons."
"What…if…we…said…please...?" asked Toshi simply. She squeaked frightened when he gave her a death glare. "Or…maybe…not…"
"Hn." Hiei didn't say any more and just jumped into the bag.
"So Hiei, you finally decided to join us," mused Yusuke.
"Yeah, shorty," added Kuwabara.
"Hn. Baka onna," retorted Hiei.
"Hurry up Kurama!" Yusuke shouted.
Toshi let out a sigh, she would have to concur that fear sooner or later. Kurama smiled up to her. "Thank you," and jumped in too.
"Alright, road trip!" cried Kuwabara happily."
"Shut up duffus," Yusuke ordered punching him.
"Did you really have to do that Yusuke?" asked Kurama simply.
"Hn. Doesn't change his appearance much anyways, he's still ugly," commented Hiei. Toshi sweat drop when the noise followed afterwards. 'So much for stealth.' Toshi zipped up the bag, leaving space for air to flow through and grabbed her duffel bag. Carefully, Toshi made her way downstairs.
Trey was leaning on the door wearing his safety pads. He held his roller blades in his hands impatiently as he watched his little sister taking her sweet time coming down the stairs. "How about in this century."
"Okay…" she quickened her pace slightly and put on her pads. "Well?"
"We might have to skate fast, times' running out," her brother said putting on his roller blades. Toshi opened the closet on her right and took out her skateboard. She opened the door and both of them stepped out. The clear sky and bright sun was a perfect day for a game.
"Let me carry your bag for you, since you have to get there first," offered Trey taking it from her. Toshi shifted her backpack, a few little noises came out. Trey looked at her. "Did you hear something?"
"Uh…no…?" Toshi said uneasy waving her hand. Trey frowned. "I thought I heard voices."
"No…just…the…wind…no…voices…here…" Toshi said loudly for the guys to hear. Instantly she heard a hush followed by silence. Her brother shrugged and skated around her. "Let's see if you can beat my time."
"Your on!" Toshi said hopping on her skateboard and zooming down the sidewalk followed by her brother.
Toshi turned and did a circle in the air by lifting the board up and bending her knees while holding the bottom. She landed gracefully and continued skating. Toshi loved to blade down the busy streets of her town, it was so much fun doing tricks and doing moves, her brother taught her when she was little. Now she wasn't a pro but could skate just like one.
"Hey, Toshi, rail coming up," called her brother. Toshi looked ahead and saw a railing going down hill on some steps. She smiled and jumped at the right moment to send her grinding the rail. Trey did the same thing. Maybe she wasn't graceful on feet but on wheels that was a different matter entirely.
The two scatted down town passing by shops and waving at people they know. For a while Toshi was at peace. Riding her board always did that to her. She gazed up at the clear blue sky through the trees as the bladed through the park. A type of short cut to get to school when they were late. Would this case be dangerous? And if so, would her family get involved? She was already in too deep, so now she had to help the Spirit team. Speaking of team Toshi glanced behind her to see how they were doing. No noises.
"Hey, are you going to be by the tree again?" her brother asked skating next to her. Toshi nodded. The tree he was talking about was the same one that Toshi and only her sat under during games. It had a great view of the play filed and beautiful shade under the great oak tree.
"Well, just so you know, my friend San is going to be there," Trey said. Toshi halted to an immediate stop. She gazed wide-eyed at her brother's back. "Who!"
In the corner of the school building hiding in the shadows, a tall evil figure watched the students pass by him, talking excitedly and getting ready for the big game. Fools, they were hardly even aware of what was going to happen. This was perfect. There were plenty of souls here for his gathering. He reached inside his pockets and pulled out a small dog whistle. This was no ordinary whistle, oh no. When played just right given the amount of spirit energy, this whistle becomes The Soul Collector. The name spoke for its self. Brought from the darkest hearts and shadows of Menkai, it was created to suck the souls of its foe and transfer it to the master in small shaped marbles. He would then do anything he wanted with it. What he had planned for it was more than just calling a dog, he had more ideas than that.
He shifted his gaze as he saw two familiar people enter the stands. Smirking, the figure licked his lips as he saw the female of the two. Yes, this was going to be loads of fun. Stepping out of the shadows he made his way casually over to the couple.
Yes, fun indeed.
Toshi carefully rested her backpack on the bench and sat down next to it. Her brother remained standing, looking for someone. There was no doubt in her mind that Toshi knew it was San he was looking for, and an extra feeling told her that he was bad. Very bad.
People crowded the benches trying to find the right spot for the game. Toshi sat very still and concentrated in her breathing. She took a deep breath, held it for two seconds and let it out slowly. She did this whenever she was nervous. Sure her family was very athletic, got it from her parents, but that didn't mean she couldn't have the jitterbugs.
"Hey, Trey. How's it going?" came the chilling voice of San as he made his way over. Toshi's heart raced as he greeted her brother. 'Please don't let him see me, please don't let hi see me, please…'
"Hello, Toshi," San said smiling. Toshi pasted on a smile and waved at him. "Hello…"
"So, are you ready for the big game?" he asked, his cool silver eyes starring at her.
"Ready…" Toshi replied feebly. She glanced at her backpack, were the guys listening?
"Do you think today's game is going to be fair?" asked Trey sitting down. San shrugged and stuffed his hands into his baggy jean pocket. "I don't know man, they play pretty nasty."
"Yeah." Trey looked at the other end of the field where the opponent side was. He could see and hear them chanting there 'we are winners not a bunch of losers' cheer. "You should probably go and get your self ready Toshi."
"He's right. But don't worry Toshi," San said calmly as she got up with her stuff, "I'm sure they'll be a lot of spirit today." He smirked at that last comment.
Toshi hurried out of there and made her way across the field to her spot. She didn't trust that San. Sighing, Toshi rested her bag down underneath the oak tree and opened it. "We're…here…"
Yusuke popped his head out and look around. "This is a pretty nice field." He jumped out and stretched. Kurama came out next and looked about also followed by Hiei. Kuwabara tumbled out all swirly eyed. "Next time lets take the bus." Toshi giggled.
Hiei gazed up at the big majestic oak tree in front of him. The leaves rustled in the cool breeze, the trunk stood tall and firm, the branches reaching out as if to touch something not there. In a blink of an eye, Hiei had disappeared.
"So, this is where you stay Toshi during your games?" asked Yusuke pushing aside a leaf and walked over to her where she was taking out her things. Toshi nodded. "So, why don't you go over to the rest of the team?" Yusuke said.
"I don't sense anything unusual," Kuwabara said moving his head left to right.
"That's because he's probably masking his energy," Kurama said. "And he's doing it very well."
"I don't like that San guy," mumbled Kuwabara kicking the dirt. He looked up at Toshi. "You have anything to eat?"
"You just ate pig head," Yusuke said. Kuwabara grabbed his stomach. "Yeah I know, but I digest quickly."
Toshi sighed, shaking her head. Boys. She dug around in her duffel bag and took out some grapes she put in before they left and gave it to him. He struggled taking one off the vine. "Come on, come on! Give me the stupid grape!"
"Idiot," Yusuke said as Kurama shook his head. Toshi stood up and stretched. She bent forward reaching her toes and started to do exercises. Yusuke watched with interest. She sure did have nice legs, especially when she bent forward…he shook his head and cursed him self. Now was not the time to go gaga over a girl he just met. Still, he couldn't help but feel what he was.
Toshi finished stretching and sat down on the grass. She watched as Kuwabara pulled off another grape, but it ended up on his head when he yanked too hard. Now he was walking about with a green grape for a head.
"I can't see, I can't see! Someone turned off all the lights," Kuwabara yelled his arms out stretched so he wouldn't bump into anything. Toshi giggled. Yusuke threw a rock at his head causing him to fall over. "Stop fooling around."
"Yusuke, at least help the poor boy," Kurama said annoyed as he helped Kuwabara up and took off the fruit on his head.
"I…think…it's…cute," Toshi said smiling. Kuwabara wiped the juice off his head. "Man that fruit was evil."
"Where's…Hiei?" asked Toshi looking around for the fire apparition. Yusuke pointed upwards. "He's gone tree crazy."
"Does he…like trees?" asked Toshi. She surprised her self when she said the words right after the other. Maybe her speech was improving.
"Like? Are you kidding! If Hiei died he'd be reborn as a squirrel!" exclaimed Kuwabara. Kurama chuckled and Yusuke snickered, "Squirrel."
An acorn fell from the tree and landed on Kuwabara's head and knocked him out. Toshi looked up and saw Hiei looking down at them. "Baka."
Toshi smiled up at him. He turned his head. "Hn. Baka onna."
Toshi didn't say anything but turned her head to see the one girl who always picked on her for everything, even when she did it right, Brittany. Behind her, Toshi could see the followers who did nothing but agree and follow the popular girl. She was heading her way.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" she asked reaching Toshi's spoke and sneering about the place. Her blonde hair flowed behind her head. Her blue eyes twinkled with an evil plot. Toshi gulped.
"It seems that the lone wolf is all by herself," she said pitifully. The way she acted made Toshi want to gage. She turned to see the others weren't there. 'Good, they're hiding."
"Toshi, Toshi. Why must you be…you?" Toshi looked at her like she was dumb and stupid. 'Who else am I going to be?'
"Look, I came over to tell you not to screw things up for the team today," Brittany said. "Last time, you missed that goal by a mile. I never saw such poor aim."
"Yeah," coursed the others. Toshi looked at the ground. What she said was true, at the end of the game the score was tied and she had the last shot to make, but the ball didn't make it in, making them lose the game. It wasn't initially her fault, she just got scared.
"Well, anyway, why don't you let the professionals hit the ball, you'll just be extra weight," continued Brittany. Toshi clenched her hands tight. "I've...been…practicing…"
"Ha! You couldn't even hit the side of a barn! No matter how much you practice," Brittany pointed a finger at Toshi, "you'll still be extra weight on the team."
Toshi could feel her eye start to water. 'I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry!'
"They should let someone like me take your place. At least I have skill, and style," Brittany jeered looking. An acorn dropped from the tree and hit her on the head. "Ow! What the hell!"
Another one came and hit her in the eye. "OWWW!"
Toshi watched as acorns rained down on Brittany and her group. They all screamed. "Evil squirrels!" and ran off.
Toshi sat there for a moment, then looked to see Kuwabara and Yusuke waving at her smiling holding acorns from a branch. Toshi smiled and started to laugh.
"Did you see the way I whacked those goons?" asked Kuwabara jumping up and down.
"You might want to stop that," suggested Kurama. Too late. Kuwabara lost his footing and fell. Toshi caught him before he hit the ground and sighed. "Be…careful."
He smiled goofily up at her. "Sorry."
"I won't ask what that was about, but you might want to warm up, the others already started," Yusuke said from his position on the tree. Toshi nodded and rested Kuwabara down before going in her bag and taking out a beanbag. She tossed it in the air and when it came back down she knocked it back up with her knee. She did this for a while, working on that one knee, then she would switch it from left to right. Then she would bounce it off her head and ankles. This helped with her coordination and aim on the ball.
Yusuke and Kurama were impressed. "She's really good at that," Yusuke said.
"Yusuke, have you considered that this might be too dangerous for her?" asked Kurama watching Toshi do some tricks for Kuwabara. Yusuke lowered his eyes. "Yeah, I have."
"If I was you detective, I get her out while I still can," came the voice of Hiei. He leaned against the trunk. "Of course, I hardly care what happens to her."
"That's not a very nice thing to say Hiei," Kurama said sternly to him. Hiei paid no attention.
"We'll just have to be careful, that's all," Yusuke said watching the two people down below. Kuwabara seemed to be having a fun time, although Toshi accidentally missed hitting the ball and it dropped on him. Besides that it looked like they were having a pretty good time. Of course he thought about Toshi…and her safety. This was a dangerous demon if it was stronger than Toguru and that was a challenge. On the other hand, if he kept her on the simple things then maybe she wouldn't be in danger as much, on the other hand, he wouldn't always be there to protect her. Being small has your disadvantages you know. He couldn't actually go up to the guy and punch his lights out without him first turning him into jam. Yeah, it bugged him that much.
Toshi glanced over to the field when she heard a cheer rise. The game was starting; the other team was already lining up to prepare for their opening. Another thing about this school besides the cheating was that they always had to have a big entrance. She sighed and felt her nerves working again. 'Clam down, calm down,' she chanted, 'its only the most important game in the season, no worries.'
"Hey Toshi," called Kuwabara making her jump. He looked at her confused. "You okay? You look kind of nervous."
"I'm…fine…," she said waving her hand. He didn't look convinced. Hiei grunted," Baka onna," and appeared next to Kuwabara who jumped surprised to see him there all of a sudden. "Your to nervous. We need you to be on guard."
"Cut her some slack Hiei, this is a very important game to her," Kurama told him calmly.
Hiei cut his eyes at him. "She can't get her senses twisted. If she does then she won't be able to tell the difference between the sky and the ground. Then she really be useless."
"…Hey," Toshi cried. She might be clumsy, but she wasn't worthless. The band struck from across the field signaling the start of the game. Toshi gasped, "Oh…no!" she was late for the game. Staying here and hearing Hiei talk about her like that was making her miss something this important. She said a quick bye to the guys, who wished her luck minus Hiei, and ran across the field to her team. The coach, a woman in her fifties, blew her whistle. She waited as her team drew close.
"All right, we made it this far," she told them. "All the other games have been a piece of cake," she stopped and looked at Toshi, "some of you have improved, others," she looked over at the girl who had a black eye and claimed evil squirrels attacked her with acorns, "…no comment." The coach sighed and looked over her team with proud eyes. "I just want to let you know, even though they fight dirty, we fight clean. Don't go low like them, stay on top, and that's the key to winning. Even if we don't win, then…well," she grinned at them all, "we'll go down in style."
Toshi nodded her head in agreement with the others. They had been practicing none stop for this game, it meant a lot to them all. Toshi had practiced hard too, hoping that she got better and better. Coach always taught them how to play fair, that's what Toshi liked about her, always going the right way, even if there ways an easier one. Easier isn't always simpler. The coach put her hand out. The others followed suit. "Remember," she cried, "what do we want?"
"To win!" they chorused.
"When do we want it?"
"Now!"
"How are we going to get it?"
"By playing fair!"
"That's how I like to hear it!" they broke the hold and Toshi looked into the audience and smiled when she say her brother waving at her. He always acted as a kid whenever she played. Right next to him was San, who was watching her intently. She looked away before she collapsed from his intense gaze. He was really spooky.
The referee went to the middle of the field, and the two teams went on their sides. Toshi took goalie; it was her best position. The others took field. She glanced over to the tree, wondering what the guys were doing. Probably Yusuke beating up Kuwabara and Kurama was probably busy healing him. Hiei…bet he didn't care diddly-squat. So she guessed they were busy. Turning her attention back to the matter at hand, Toshi said a silent prayer, 'God, make me play my best, and make me live this.'
Prayers help.
The referee looked at both sides nodded his head that they were ready and blew his whistle dropping the ball.
The torture began.
FANG: sorry for the long wait, i'm doing number five now. hope you reveiw! Oh yes! forgot to mention this: i will update all my stoires to power! BWAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! coughs spit. anywho, readers checkout my hearts intwined, been updated.