13.
With the others
Everyone walked down to Koenma's office. He said that he had a mission that was mandatory for everyone including the girls. The spirit detectives and the girls were more concerned in telling him that Lea was kidnapped and to see if he could locate her kidnapper's lair.
"Ah I see you've come. Hang on, where is Lea?" Koenma asks as you all come through the doors.
"She's been kidnapped Binky-Boy. That's why she's not with us!" Yusuke screams.
"What?! I see. In that case then I'll get right to finding her location. But before I do I want to tell you guys what your mission is. I have received an extended invitation to a ball from a high-class demon. He has a very good file and I want you to come incase something bad happens. You could think of it as a way to get your mind off of Lea for a little while. I will have George continue the search while we are gone that night. Now I want everyone to go and get ready for the ball. Hiei you will be wearing that tux you have in your closet because it is formal. Yusuke and Kuwabara, you will have to wear one as well. Now. You are dismissed," Koenma says and dismisses you with a wave of his hand. Everyone walked out and the girls all started chattering about going shopping to buy outfits for the event.
Normal POV(FF to the day of the ball oh and the judges of the tournament delayed the tournament until two days after the ball because they were invited as well)
You were sitting at the vanity in the bedroom you were given and looking at the mirror. The drugs had completely worn off but you made no attempt to escape, nor did Bret make any attempt to reapply the drugs. You had already agreed to go to the party so there wasn't any reason to apply force. You knew that since he didn't mention anything about Hiei being a detective then he didn't know exactly who they were, what they looked like, or the fact that he kidnapped you from their residence.
Bret had said that you were free to wander the house so you got up and chose to explore. You figured you might as well since your supposed to act like you've been recently living here and not like you were just kidnapped two weeks before. During your exploring you came across a study and a garden. You decided to grab a book from the study and read it in the garden. You looked at the shelves and came across a book that was surprisingly in the Language of Shadows. You grabbed that book and headed to the garden.
In the garden you found a bench that was in front of the fountain in the center. You sat down at the bench and began to read the book, fingering your pendant. After the elves had finished getting you ready and left, you had moved the rings where the diamond ring was on your right middle finger and your ring was back on your left ring finger. You spend all that afternoon in the garden reading the different fictional stories inside the large book. It turned out to just be a book of entertainment for those who speak the language. As you finish the last story you see Amstra scurrying towards you.
"My lady, My lord has asked me to get you for the ball. Guests will start arriving in fifteen minutes and you need to be at the front gate with my lord," she said and took the book to put back in the study.
"Ok. Thanks Amstra. I'll head to there now. I'm sure I'll need those minutes to find my way there," You replied. With that you headed back into the house towards the front doors.
After ten minutes of wandering, you found the front doors and "Brandon" who was already standing there. You reluctantly went over and stood next to him, waiting for the guests to arrive. Your tail swished around behind you impatiently for five minutes when you see a portal open up on the other side of the gate walls. Your ears perk up, your eyes turn amber and sky blue, and your tail swishes around in excitement because you knew that it was Koenma and everyone. Luckily, you were hidden behind the closed front door so that they couldn't see you, even though you're excited to see them you were worried about their reaction to seeing you beside Bret who they would know as Brandon. You lowered your head and let those anime shadows cover your face.
You sensed them near the doors and heard Brandon (gonna call him that so your not confused when I say Brandon/Bret) say, "Welcome Lord Koenma. I'm glad you could make it. It's an honor to finally meet you." You feel Brandon unlink arms with you and see him bow. You bow as well with your hands held together in front of you. You can feel ten pairs of eyes on you as you straighten up.
"I see you've brought some friends with you. My name is Brandon and this is my fiancée Laena. If you would please wait in the front Foyer here the other guests should be here soon. My dear could you please show our honored guests to the foyer?," Brandon continued.(remember, he sounds like Aaya.)
You finally lift your head and reveal your face to them, giving them a bright smile with full amber eyes and nodding to Brandon. You see that they're all staring at you with surprise written across all of their faces.
You motioned for them to follow you and they did. From what you saw, Koenma had a date with Botan, Yusuke had a date with Keiko, and Kuwabara had a date with Yukina while Hiei, Kurama, Shizuru, and one girl with midnight blue hair and golden eyes that was unknown to you, had no date.
You decided to make conversation so that it would seem less like they knew you and asked, "So, what's your names? Like Brandon said, mines Laena."
"Yes well, My name is Koenma and this is Botan. That there is Yusuke and Keiko. Over there is Kuwabara, Yukina, Kurama and Shizuru. And those two are Hiei and Sabera. It's very nice to meet you Laena," Koenma said and pointed to each of them. You smiled and greeted each of them. During all of this you never made eye contact with Kurama. You just couldn't after what happened the last time you saw each other.(see Ch. 12) Before the incident, you had thought of him as the older brother, that was a pain sometimes, that you never had. When you greeted Hiei he seemed to be even more cold and distant then usual towards you. You wondered why but you just shrugged it off for now. You knew that he most likely had questions so you would just ask about it later. You then left to go back to the front doors with Brandon and left them in the foyer to talk.
the guys POV
Everyone was shocked to find Lea standing next to a man with long silver hair and golden eyes. Koenma had informed them that his name was Brandon and that was proven true when he introduced him as such. He introduced Lea as Laena for some reason and said that she was his fiancée. This only made everyone even more shocked because Hiei said that Lea had been kidnapped by a guy named Bret. Brandon bowed as well as Lea and he then asked for her to escort the team to the front Foyer.
Lea finally raised her head to where we could see her face and only made everyone even more shocked that it was the real her and she had amber eyes and not sky blue or blue. Everyone thought that Brandon gave her something or is controlling her to be like this and that Bret was just a pawn that he sent to get her.
She then nodded to his request and motioned for everyone to follow. They followed and afterwards you started to make conversation by asking our names. Koenma introduced everyone, and Lea greeted everyone. For some reason that no one could place, Lea never made direct eye contact with Kurama. It also seemed that Kurama did know the reason why she acted like that. She soon left and gave everyone a chance to talk about what just happened.
"Uh…What the heck just happened?" Yusuke and Kuwabara ask stupidly.
"I believe we just saw Lea with Brandon. What happened Hiei? I thought you said that she was kidnapped by Bret," Koenma asked after making sure that there were no camera's.
"Hn. She was. He must have given her dream flower pollen or something. The only problem is that's not Bret. He's not as tall as him and doesn't have long silver hair or yellow eyes. He didn't even have the same aura as Bret," Hiei replied in a monotone voice. He was getting a bit aggravated that she would be with him and that she wasn't with the man that had originally taken her. He was also starting to think that she was turning into a bit of a skank that went from man to man, I mean first it was him, then Kurama, then possibly Bret before or even after and now Brandon.
Meanwhile, Koenma called up George and told him that he could stop the search and continue on whatever else he needed to get done. "Hiei, are you sure that was the Lea we know and not someone who looked like her?"
"Positive. She had the same aura and that was the exact outfit that she wore when she first got the tiara. The only strange thing is that she was happy, even after she was just kidnapped a couple of weeks ago," Hiei replied and ended the conversation as the other guests began to pile into the room. Soon all of the guests were there and Brandon and Lea led everyone into the dining room for the dinner. On the way there, Yusuke spotted the jolly devil six team and went over to chat with them, the others following after he pointed them out.
back to you
You were now walking with Brandon and leading the guests to the dining room after finishing with meeting the guests. You recognized several of the guests as competitors from the first dark tournament that team Urameshi entered in. You were glad that you finally got to meet Chu, Rinku, Jin, and Touya. When they arrived, Chu had been drinking a bottle of sake and arguing with Rinku who had told him that he drank too much.
"I told you that you drink too much Chu," Rinku yelled as they walked up the front stairway.
"And I told hic you to be quiet!" Chu replied as they went through the doors.
"Greetings. I'm glad that you four could make it. My name is Brandon and this is my fiancée Laena. I hope that you enjoy the party. It is an honor to finally meet the Jolly Devil Six. If you'll please follow Laena, she will show you to the foyer where the other guests are," Brandon said like with all the other guests.
"Of course dear. Please come with me," You reply. You almost gagged when you said dear but you were able to refrain from doing so.
"Aye, lass. Is there somethin' the matter? The wind around you is a bit tense and is going in every direction like you're worried," Jin asked as they followed you in the hall.
Your eyes turned sky blue as Jin examined the wind around you closely. You decided that it might be safe to tell at least Jin and Touya about the situation. Luckily, Rinku and Chu were still fighting. "Well you see…There is something wrong. My name is Lea and that Brandon isn't my husband-to-be. He actually kidnapped me and is forcing me to marry him. Please don't mention this to any of the guests and especially not Brandon. My friends are guests here as well and you four already know them pretty well except for one. It's Yusuke and his friends. Look, if you want anymore information then ask me to dance later. I already know that my friends will probably ask me to dance too in order for them to ask questions so you can ask me and I'll give you more details then. If you could please tell them that I would answer any questions they have if they just ask to dance as a sort of code or something that would be great," You explain. Jin and Touya nod in understanding as you enter the foyer.
When you entered the Dining room there was a large table with snacks and several small tables with chairs along the walls. Across the room was a large band and it was playing a soft and melodic tune. There was enough room in there, where everyone could be able to dance freely and still have room to mingle on the sides. Not soon after everyone was inside were you sitting alone in a corner table and Brandon was surrounded by people who were congratulating him on his engagement.
You saw that Touya was heading your way as you were munching on a few sweets. "Excuse me, my name is Touya. I was wondering if, you would like to dance?" he asked and held out his hand. You took it and he helped you up from your seat after you accepted. He walked you out onto the dance floor where several other couples danced to the slow and soft tune. You two started to join the others in the waltz as he asked you questions to get a better explanation of what's going on.
"So Brandon's real name is Bret and he's trying to marry you by kidnapping you and holding this ball. What do you think he'll try to do to get you to fall for him?" Touya asked as the song began to finally come to a halt.
"I don't know. What I do know is that he doesn't know anything about me or what kind of powers I have. He won't be able to stand a chance against me after this is over. Anyways, I'm not really worried about him. I have other things on my mind that are more important and that I should worry about. Such as the Dark Tournament that's coming up in a few days. Hey, are you going to compete in it Touya?" you reply. He nods and tells you that he's going to be on a team with Rinku, Chu, Jin, and a fifth member that would be female, named Kuroda Mihara who couldn't make it because she was visiting her human adoptive parents in the Ningenkai.
The song ended and you went back to your seat in the corner while Touya went to his friends to inform Jin at the least. You spent the next half hour trying to enjoy the time you had alone but you kept getting interrupted by guys that wanted to dance with you, girls that came and complimented you on your engagement ring (even though they're actually complimenting you on the stone u got from the secret admirer) and on your engagement itself, and by Brandon.
The song changed and you heard someone ask, "May I have this dance young lady?" It was none other than Kurama who asked you…