Please enjoy. To Australian readers, I uh...
Sorry...
-Trust Chu-
She looks down to see a white sundress her mom used to make her wear for church on Sundays. She's wearing it now, even though she hasn't worn it for a long time. When she looks up, the house forms.
Home again.
Is it… is it good to be here? Is this home? She hears nothing. The same eerie stillness of sunlight filtering through dust motes, it's all that's reminiscent of her parent's house. Her cat isn't here. Her music isn't here. Her life isn't here. So why is she here?
She moves out her bedroom door, into the hallway, down the stairs and into a white fog. No, not fog, this is smoke. Alexa knows what happens next and dodges the punch, her heart lurching.
The same fight. A different fight. Different buildings. The same building. All of it leads up to one moment: When the aggressor, the murderous woman from DEvision, pulls out her knife for the pleasure of killing her with it.
There is no Hiei.
Alexa wakes up, like the other times, with a gasp or a small shriek but always sweaty and nauseated. She clenches the blanket over her. Despite the meditation the day before, her nightmares returned. She'd have to try a more intense method, like balancing on a spike out in the mountains… that could work!
"Oi, you okay in there? Was about to knock but heard you freak out."
While she would've expected Yusuke, as they're supposed to formally train today, it's… Chu?
"I'm fine, you need something?"
"You decent, mate?"
She glances down, and all pajamas are still on correctly. Nice.
"Yeah, come in." She invites him in but has no real clue what this could be about. He must've gotten back from a mission that went south: As he comes in, she notices a few bandages and bruises. It makes her wonder… Chu is so powerful, so what did that?
He slides the door behind him closed gently and tiptoes his way to sit next to her bedside. He's even sober. It must be interesting what he has to say.
"Now, aren't you a right vision this morning? I'd think you were locked back in that cave with the snakes," he jokes, tweaking her nose lightly. She swats at his hand, irritated.
"Yeah okay, I've been getting crappy sleep the past few days. It happens to everyone sometimes, I'll get over it," she harrumphs. Chu laughs a bit.
"Yer gonna have to try harder than that to convince this old bludger that yer up to snuff. Me n' the boys heard about the attack on the meetin' in Tokyo. If it were up to me you'd be full on my best grog after an encounter like that."
She deadpans.
"That's what this is about? Did Yusuke put you up to this? Odd choice," she comments, to which her nose gets tweaked again.
"Now don't go interruptin' me, I got summat to say! Life n' death, that's all we idiots do, love. And yer not one of us idiots, yer a smart girlie meant to be livin' like a normal human," he states. Alexa frowns harder.
"If this is supposed to help, you're doing horribly," she says flatly, and he grumbles because she interrupted again. She gestures for him to continue, albeit with an eyeroll.
"Ya gotta put to use what you got going for ya. Not a drunk like me, not been trainin' all yer life like those ninja boys, not whackas like Shishi and Suzuka, and not a coupla punks like Urameshi and Hiei. Naw… you got a rare strength for doin' the exact opposite of what ya should be. Y'know, I got a Sheila I train with back home…" he begins to trail off, his cheeks glowing red. She scrunches her face at the behavior. "Her name's Natsumi, and she could kick my ass into next century any time she likes, even as strong as I've gotten. Never about winning, though. Just about the feeling of being alive."
"...what does that have to do…?"
"Ol' Genkai was all about training til yer nearly dead and facin' death with a straight face. Fuck all that, yer a regular human! You should be roarin' PROUD to be alive after that shit," he laughs, slapping her on the back with such mighty gusto that she's not so sure he's entirely sober anymore.
"I think I understand what you're trying to tell me, and you're not trying to be insulting. I'll work on my perspective, I guess. Hard to be… proud… when I made such a dumbass mistake," she admits, clenching the blanket. Chu shrugs.
"I'd like to see a bloke without any mistakes in his lifetime. Be a dipstick, you ask me," he says, and quite matter-of-factly, too. Alexa gets the point, at least a little. She wonders how he sounds so Australian when they're meant to be speaking Japanese, but waves it off. Demons are mysterious creatures, and so are authors.
"Looks like you had a bit of a rough time yourself. Bar fight?" She asks, swinging away from her own troubles cuz that's for her to figure out, thanks. He sniffs.
"Got a few a those Tsa Chi blokes on our tail while delivering some coded mail to SWI. They got a couple nicks in cuz of those tongues but Rinku went bonzer thanks to those yo-yos of his," he explains. He appears to be fine, and it does make sense that mid-to-long range attacks would be most effective against those opponents. Rinku probably breezed through them.
A knock comes at her door.
"*Yaaawn* Ready to go? I'm amazed I'm even awake." Yusuke's voice drawls from the hallway.
"Guess that's my cue to get ready for the day. So, lemme get this straight," Alexa says, smirking a bit as an idea starts forming in her head. A dang funny idea. Chu recognizes the hint of mischief and chortles before nodding for her to continue. "You're saying that being alive is what I should focus on?"
"Ya got it, love."
"This gives me. Such ammunition."
Chu leaves her room, heralding Yusuke out in the hallway with a repetition of his challenge to another death match. The kid returns the greeting, but is noticeably confused, as uh… Why was he in Alexa's room? The woman in question laughs a little as she hears him being led away, Chu chattering the entire time with talk of grand battles and the need for bigger and better booze on the mountain.
She gets dressed. She gets ready. Her plan, her vision, readies itself in her mind. She knows it will happen exactly as she wants, because she knows how he works. This will be her answer to his snide comment about her quitting this life she chose if she's not ready to face death.
She may not get over the nightmares right away, but as long as she focuses on being alive…
...
Within the next half hour she and Yusuke are at a clearing in the woods that they've both trained at before, as it was suitable for mastering Reiki technique with Genkai back in the day. Sure as shit smells, Hiei is also there. She knew he would be. He wouldn't be able to stay away, whether he wants to see how pathetic she is or to see what Yusuke is up to. Either way, her plan is going to work out. He's standing about ten feet away, arms crossed, looking bored waiting for them to start. She's letting out her music at a buzz, to ensure that he suspects nothing.
"Hey, are you even listening?" Yusuke asks, perturbed. Once again, he's feeling like the only adult around. He knows something is about to go down, and if he's honest, he's too curious to stop whatever it might be. He's not grown up that much, at least.
Alexa, who wasn't listening for the past few seconds, whizzes away.
Again, I apologize to Australia for that horrendous feature. I tried not to make it a blatant caricature, ha!
Thanks for reading!
Til Next Time,
-A