(A/N: Hey all! I'm still alive and kickin'! Under my new pen name, Hisa-me Kurai! Anyhoo, this chappies a doozie, so let me know you think!)
"Darn it! Why can't Ijima-sensei take her own paperwork to the office? These things weigh a ton!"
Keiko shifted the weight of the files in her arms with a grunt, hoping that there were no unfortunate souls in her path…because woe betide them if they caused her to trip.
"I hate being a Teacher's Aid." She mumbled irritably, making her way cautiously down the stairs, "They always take advantage."
"Hey Keiko."
"Oh, hey Yusuke." Keiko said absentminded, continuing past the open window in which her boyfriend casually sat…waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute…"YUSUKE?"
Keiko's arms gave way, sending the manila file folders spilling to the floor as she gaped at the Mazoku and quickly scanned the empty hallway for any possible gossip whores.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, stooping down to scoop up the scattered papers, shooting an incensed look at the boy.
"Because, we have problem." Yusuke said simply, watching as Keiko shuffled random papers into arbitrary file folders.
"Well they had better be some pretty important problems." Keiko whispered fiercely, checking the halls again, "I'm risking suspension just talking to you!"
"Oh trust me." Yusuke said mysteriously, "It's definitely worth your interest. C'mon in here, Touya."
There was a grunt of annoyance and the sound of someone struggling just outside the window.
"Urameshi-san! Don't make do this on my own!" a rather vexed, childish voice said irritably, "This wretched garb of mine keeps getting in my path!"
"Oh no." Keiko moaned as Yusuke leaned out the window and came back up with the Juhyou Tsukai, more chibified than ever before, "Not again! How on earth did this happen?"
"Shishiwakamaru happened." Touya grumbled irritably, getting no gratification as Yusuke sat him down on the window sill, "He used the book I borrowed from Kurama as kindling to make baked yams."
"If Shishi's nothing else, he's a great cook." Yusuke said with a nod, remembering the wonderful taste of the Yams Ala Jean Val Jean.
Shooting a piercing look at her boyfriend, Keiko gave Touya look indicative that he should continue.
"At any rate, I was seething and preparing myself to freeze that featherhead into a delightful ice sculpture for your backyard, Yukimura-san." Touya said, a tiny, vindictive smile appearing on his lips, "But the next, thing I know…I'm…like this."
"I hate this sooooo much!" Yoru muttered irritably under her breath, jiggling her foot irritably and drumming her fingers, "Mom? Yuhi? I must really love you guys to even consider doing something as stupid as this."
Yoru was currently out of school, dressed as nicely as her current wardrobe would allow.
Why is this? Let's recap a bit…shall we?
Miyasu, only minutes from being released from the hospital, relapsed so badly that she had to be taken to the ICU – (behold the wonders of stress on the human body.)
And, since Miyasu was on unpaid sick leave from work, there was no way she could afford her medical bills AND Yuhi's on Aoshi's income alone (you can almost hear the soap opera montage.)
She needed help.
Which she received from a rather unlikely source – Tezuya and Konoka Himura – Miyasu's estranged parents.
Firmly set in the old traditions, the pair had disowned their middle child when she rebelled, doing so by eloping with Aoshi rather than going along with the arranged marriage they set up for her.
Parent and child had maintained their bitter silence for over eighteen years, but were now prepared to deal; an equivalent exchange if you will (how very FMA)
The Himura's would foot the hospital bill for both Miyasu and Yuhi…if Yoru agreed to go on an omiai with a prospective husband they had selected for her.
So here Yoru sat, staring at the dessert in her spoon as she switched it back and forth, tossing around the idea of ditching the omiai all together, knowing if she did, her mother would be going into serious debt.
"I hate having a conscience sometimes." Yoru muttered to herself, taking another bite of her Marron Chocolate Parfait, "I swear…if they weren't family I'd…do the exact same thing. Gaaaawd dammit. I hate being a push over."
"This is bad." Keiko murmured as she and Yusuke walked hurriedly along, Touya in their arms, "We have absolutely no idea when we'll turn back."
"Well, maybe you wont turn back." Yusuke said quickly as they sped along.
"What do mean, Urameshi-san?" Touya asked, twisting around in Keiko's arms to look at the Reikai Tantei.
"Well look, you changed back when you raised the level of your youki suddenly, right?" the mazoku asked.
"…yes." Touya said, not really following as he had just spotted a inuko on the other side of the street, which his juvenile brain was screaming at him to go play with.
"Well Keiko, A) doesn't have youkai, and B) doesn't know how to control her energy." Yusuke said matter-of-factly, not noticing that Keiko was now trembling with rage.
"DID YOU JUST CALL ME WEAK YOU SEXIST?" Keiko screeched, her grip on Touya tightening to a point where all oxygen to his brain was sufficiently being cut up.
"No I didn't." Yusuke replied with a cheeky grin, "But you might wanna knock that off before the police haul your ass in."
"Distraction tactics wont work this time." Keiko growled, as Touya started clawing frantically at her arms, "Touya-kun knock it off that-AAUGH! TOUYA!"
Touya's face was a rather interesting shade of purple by the time Keiko let him go; air had never tasted more delicious.
"I am so sorry Touya!" Keiko cried as he took in several deep breaths of air, massaging his sore ribcage.
"It was a mistake, Yukimura-san." Touya said dismissively, "Just forget that this unpleasantness ever happened."
"But this still leaves us on square one." Yusuke said thoughtfully, effectively changing subjects and diverting attention away from his girlfriend's act of accidental child abuse, "What are we gonna do?"
"Yaminade-kun? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"
Yoru glanced up at the somewhat familiar voce, and was rather surprised to see-
"Kamiyama-sensei." she muttered, setting down her spoon, "If you really must know, I'm waiting on my…omiai."
She spat the last word out to show her disdain.
"You don't sound very happy about it." the man smiled, gesturing towards the seat beside her, and Yoru nodding telling to feel free to sit, "I'll admit, omiai's and arranged marriages are old fashioned, but they have worked out for a lot of people."
"…sounds to me like you aren't bothered by the idea at all." Yoru said frankly, scooping up another spoonful of parfait.
"Don't misunderstand me." Kamiyama-sensei said, holding up his hands defensively, "I don't abhor the idea of arranged marriages myself. Asking your children to give up their right to choose seems rather selfish if you ask me."
Yoru appeared to be considering accepting this response for a second before she let loose a long, loud, frustrated sigh.
"Kaachan always used to tell me that when people were meant to be with one another, they would be joined together by a red string." Yoru mumbled reflectively, "How in the hell am I supposed to find that person if I'm arranged to marry some guy I've never met?"
"You really are dead set against this aren't you?" Kamiyama-sensei smiled, resting his chin in his hand.
"Wouldn't you be?" Yoru cried, eyes widening in shock, "My grandparents are trying to decide my future for me! I can't and wont accept it!"
"…you are a far bolder person than I gave you credit for." Kamiyama-sensei said with a smile, "Wish I was more like that."
"I mean…it's all so unfair." Yoru muttered, chewing on the end of her spoon, "I hate guys. All they do is manipulate the truth to however it suits them and go through women like Kleenex."
"…well, we're not all bad." Kamiyama-sensei chuckled, "I can't say that I know how you formed your opinion, but all I can say is that anyone you choose would be lucky to have you."
"..eh?" Yoru blinked, feeling unwanted heat rising in her cheeks.
"At any rate, it looks as though your omiai is running decidedly late." Kamiyama remarked, gesturing toward a nearby arcade, "You want to while away the time in there?"
"You like video games?" Yoru asked, rising to her feet, "Funny…you really don't come off as a teacher…you know that?"
"Hey, I'm only twenty-two!" Kamiyama-sensei scowled huffily as they walked into the arcade, "Don't talk as though I was a wrinkled, old geezer."
"Well it's kind of difficult for me, ya know." Yoru remarked, approaching Street Fighter II, "If you think about it, I've only seen you in a school setting."
"What to do what to d-HOLLEECRAP!" Yusuke cried as Touya returned to normal in his arms, "Warn me before you do that dude, okay?"
"I apologize." Touya said politely, clamoring of the Reikai Tantei's chest, "But I was unaware that it was going to occur."
"But…why did you change back now?" Keiko stammered, eyes wide and looking around in case anyone had happened to see, "You weren't doing anything different than usual…were you?"
"No. But the authoress was probably sick of me being a child." Touya remarked as he dusted himself off and readjusted his Shinobi garb.
"What was that?" Yusuke asked, quirking an eyebrow at the strange rant that had just tumble from the Juhyou Tsukai's lips, "What did you say?"
"I said, Urameshi-san, that while I haven't been doing anything different, perhaps the effect wore off after awhile." Touya said, annoyance flickering across his face from having to repeat himself.
"Look, let's just get home before anything else happens." Keiko pleaded, motioning down the street to her rooftop.
"Hate to burst your bubble Keiko…but something else already has happened."
Whipping around, they found none other than Kuwabara Shizuru behind them, a chibified Kuwabara slung over her shoulder, bound with a length of extension cord.
"I'm not sure what exactly set it off…but this happened to him after he flew completely off the handle when he lost at SoulCalibur." Shizuru commented calmly, taking a drag on her cigarette, "And from what Kurama told me, that clown faced freak and the narcissist became like this too. I was heading his way."
"This is just too much." Yusuke moaned, massaging his temples, "What next?"
"Remind me to destroy the Idunn Box the next time I see it." Touya said vaguely.
"Whoa…look at how late it is." Yoru remarked after playing video games with her sensei for lord only knows how long, "And that ass never showed up…must've been thinking along the same lines as me."
"Yaminade-kun, I've been meaning to ask you, who's the name of your omiai?" Kamiyama-sensei asked as the pair exited the arcade.
"Ahhhh, I suck at names." Yoru said whiney tone of voice as she furrowed her brow, trying to muster up the name, "I can't for the life of me remember the surname…but I remember that his first name was Kouta."
Kamiyama-sensei started at the name, which went completely unnoticed by Yoru who was still trying to will her memory to summon up the forgotten surname.
"Kakizaki? Kamino? Kamimura?" she ticked off, prodding her forehead, "Something starting with Ka."
"…Yaminade-kun…" Kamiyama-sensei said tentatively, placing a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn to face him, "My name is Kouta. Kamiyama Kouta."
Yoru's eyes widened in shock.
"How long…" she murmured, her voice trembling in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "How long have you known that-"
"Please let me explain!" Kouta said quickly, "I was on my way to meet my omiai too, and, I can't say much for my memory seeing as I couldn't remember the name of the person I was supposed to be meeting!"
"You're lying!" Yoru spat furiously, shaking her head and attempting to get out of his grasp.
"I'm not!" He cried, his dark blue eyes filled with desperation, "Sure, when I saw you sitting there, I thought it was a little strange, but-"
"You're just like all the others you manipulative piece of crap!" Yoru cried out viciously, "Now let me go!"
"Yaminade-kun, why has your opinion of me changed so drastically?" Kamiyama-sensei said in frustration, "We had a pleasant day together, nothing went wrong, then we find out we were supposed to be meet today in the first place. How is that deception?"
"…" Yoru opened and closed her mouth in a rather carp-like fashion, unable to find an effective counter in her database.
"I truly apologize for everything, Yaminade-kun." Kamiyama-sensei said, bowing deeply, "As we live in the same apartment complex, might I be allowed to walk you home? It is a dangerous time of night, and as a teacher, I must look out for the well being of my students."
Yoru closed her mouth and nodded shortly, allowing her teacher to take the lead.
"As a teacher…huh?" Yoru mused irritably.
(A/N: Yoru is confused as to how she feels...Kamiyama Kouta is on the same page. More pyschosis on the chibi front as well! R&R!)