Doubt
Random Beginning Notes: I'm a PC but I got a Mac anyway. Looks like I ended up with a computer sooner than I thought. Not that it matters anyway. I get to go back to writing again. It's awesome. Now I can stop hanging around facebook so much. (Speaking of which I've been getting weird friend requests lately. It's really freaking me out.) So… Anyone else like the shameless chapter title? Nobody? Meh.
Chapter 18 "[What hits the fan]!"
Kuwabara came to school the next day looking like a deflated balloon. When Yusuke asked what the problem was as such behavior begs for such questions, he theatrically sighed and said, "Ugh… Today's the day before Valentine's Day. It always get me down…"
"Dude, that's why they call it Single's Appreciation Day!" Yusuke said.
As if he didn't hear Yusuke, he went on, "Except this year, I'm even more depressed than ever. I didn't buy Yukina a present. And I… I never even got to see her. This has to be the loneliest Valentine's Day ever! Why didn't they tell me where she worked or where she lived? Woe is… Ugh… Damn you, Hiei!" Some people walking by stopped and stared at him, then they decided it would be much better if they continued as though nothing happened. And possibly repress the memory of this ever happening.
"Would you even know what to do even if you were told where she worked? And we all know that even if Mukuro knew where she was, she wouldn't even tell you. Besides, you didn't even really ask her. She did imply it but…"
"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Kuwabara latched onto Yusuke, who shoved him off, nearly landing him into a trashcan.
"Get off! And Hiei was right there, and he'd probably eat you alive if he knew you knew stuff like that."
"Why? What's his problem?"
"Oh, you know…" Yeah, the creepy brother people warn each other about. ...Or is that just sit coms? No, wait. They are creepy in general. Or THIS ONE anyway.
"Well, if he's that way about her, then that's really screwed up, going and leading on Mukuro like that. What a man whore. As soon as a hot girl walks in, he thinks it's time he goes and swoops them and…"
"Do they really look like they're in love to you?" It's times like these I really wish he watched the rest of that damn video. It's more trouble that it's worth… But why is it even bothering me? What am I, Dr. Phil?
-.-.-
"Okay, it looks like this building's close enough to the school that we can get some good shots for this guy," Hiei said more to himself as he turned on his camera, one whose brand was so unfamiliar to Kurama that he decided that it had to be one from Demon World.
Kurama saw where this was going. Time to play the boke. "You mean behind this building?"
"Stupid! On top of it! I'll just jump up there, and then wait for that stalker to show up, and then I'll get a picture of him. This job is making my mouth water. It's worthy of monjyayaki… I hope he gets here soon..."
"Hiei, that's really disgusting." Kurama turned a little green at the thought.
"Shit's good though."
"Have you looked at it before you ate it?"
"Have you ever had to eat chicken because if you didn't eat you would keel over on the battlefield despite knowing that the night before the cook screwed the chicken? I think not, you damn pampered pretty boy!"
"Don't… call me that."
"Well, if you're prettier and girlier than Mukuro, then you are."
"You really think so?" Evil aura, evil aura. "Because I will kill you if that's the truth.
"Eh… Not really. And I'm not saying that because you're threatening me. You'll probably just chip a nail or something."
"Why does it have to be Mukuro, Hiei? You have something repressed you're not willing to discuss?"
"It was the first name I thought of." Long silence. "Shut up!" He looked back at the building. "Okay, there's some stairs here since you can't jump that high in this body. Actually, I should do the same. I'd draw attention if I jump." He turned back to his partner. "What're you looking at me like that for? Go on!"
"Oh, you know… I could just stand here and keep watch of this guy, and when he comes over, I can give you the signal and then you'll know when to take a picture."
"I'd know when to take the picture. I'm not blind. And if he hears you give me a signal, then he'll know something's up and leave."
"Not if it's something you'd expect people to be yelling at this time like 'Fire!' Or maybe someone's name all angry. Or 'How long have you been cheating me, you cheap whore?'"
"Get your pretty boy ass up there."
"Is name-calling really necessary? And that building is really tall…"
"Are you really that scared of heights?"
"It wouldn't be incorrect not to say no…"
"Just go up there."
"How about we don't and then go our separate ways? The chief would understand if you went solo on this mission…"
Hiei took a dagger from his pocket and pointed it at him. "Do it, you maggot."
"Now, is that really the answer?" After he received no answer, Kurama turned back to the stairs and swallowed a lump in his throat. No use arguing at that point. So he took a step and wrapped his arms around the rail, as if holding on for dear life. He felt the blade pressing against the back of his neck. "Okay, okay! I'm going. Just don't point that thing at me.
They reached the top of the building after what felt like hours of tears and whining. ("Is this even legal?" "Shut up!") Hiei glanced at Kurama's watch (he never got one himself one, claiming that his always went haywire. No evidence has been seen supporting this claim.) and shrugged, deciding that being early was worth the tears it cost. He began to pace back and forth as he listened to Kurama finally calm down from the shock. Until five minutes later, Kurama then realized that he had to go back down the stairs, meaning that he would also have to look down on the way. Hiei refused to console him and put a finger to his temple as if it were his problem.
"Shut up for five seconds, will you?" Hiei finally growled. "You're such a pussy."
"Hey, you don't know how bad this is.. And… Are you… You're smiling a little…" Kurama was lightly disturbed at that point.
"This is why I tell people not to cry. I start laughing a little and then they get all mad. It's not my fault that I'm this way. I just… came out like this."
"That's some excuse you got there." There was a long silence.
Hiei reached into his pocket and pulled out a pistol. "You wanna play Russian roulette for two hours?"
"And kill myself? Really, Hiei, really?"
"You would normally point it at something else. That's how we usually play it."
"Who's we?"
He put the pistol away and pulled out a bag of Skittles. "I'm getting hungry. You want any?"
"You normally carry candy with you…. In your pockets."
"Take it or leave it."
Kurama held out a hand for him to toss it. After a few moments of silence, Kurama said, "You ever notice that lately it seems like more demons are pouring in lately. You can tell who is…"
"You sure, Minamino? You've never been to Eastern Europe if that's the case. Just about everyone looks completely human or at least must keep a human form except for a purpose that requires the change to your real appearance. Because fucking Hitler decided that was the true race, and then Stalin decided the same thing. Or it just happened that way supposedly… God, I want to hang myself right now." Hiei took a deep breath. Why do I have this feeling now? "You got a… So there's a lot going on right now in the other side, I've been told. Exactly what I can't tell you. It's mostly classified. Mukuro's got some interest in it for some reason, too. Even talked me in to giving her friend some info… Wait... When did that happen...?"
"But no matter what was going on on the Otherside, there were never this many people flooding in."
"You wanna hear a theory at least- because even the Premier wants to know and no one's given him a legit answer? So you have these two parallel universes. This is the Human World or the Human's universe and then you have ours, which has yet to get a cute name other than Demon World. So the demons, us, can go into the other world and the humans can go into ours, though it's never intentional that we know of. And how does that happen? You and I both know damn well how to do that and what that takes. But that's only possible by having the connection drawn between the two worlds. Neither of us know how this happened. Humans and human sympathizers would blame us because we like to eat them. Demons would blame the humans because they like to try to summon us up, not knowing they really want devils, as I found out a while back. The food was an added bonus, for the rich. Though it's actually the best thing you've ever eaten."
"…Is it really?"
"Yeah. But that's not the point. So what we're thinking is that over time this connection between the two began to get stronger and stronger so that more and more people could just walk into the other world without using a special machine or waiting to be summoned. That's usually thought of as a hole. So this hole gets bigger and bigger and eventually it's easier to get through. It's starting to stabilize, too. It used to be that you jumped in this hole, wherever it is, and you wouldn't know where the hell you were going. All you know is that you're going to somewhere in the world. But now… Now I walk through a tunnel in the side of a building in Moscow knowing that I will walk out of the same wall of a building in the same damn town in the same damned area. We both know that this was not supposed to be. That we were supposed to be connected like this. We really should stop dicking around but… Look, you get the point."
"Is it possible that these humans leaders and ours would ever connect? From what you've seen?"
"On our side, everyone would obviously take their own country. It's only fair but then the war would be turning into colony wars and everyone'd want to take over the world because the war's gone to shit in our own. We'd just want to power and then we'd eat the humans… Among other things. You'd get the picture. Now humans I'd say would think we're all exotic and would wanna get into contact just to be all rebellious and shit. Then the government would come in and then use us for their wars, thinking they have the upper hand and they really don't. It all depends on who takes advantage of the whole thing first."
"You don't think it would be too gradual?"
"You've been human too long, Minamino. You forgot what we're all really like. Unless you decided you wanted to be an optimist. That's no way for someone like you to live."
"You could take a few lessons. You'd be much better."
"That's a good one." There was another long awkward silence. "What time is it?"
"Uh… twelve forty-five."
"An hour and fifteen minutes till the school's out." After forty minutes, Hiei glanced over the edge of the roof and saw a motorcycle pull up. "Okay. Looks like we have the guy. You… wait here. Keep yourself busy while I move out."
Kurama stared at the suddenly empty space. So what made him think this was the perfect place to…?
-.-.-
"Hello? Is this Mr. Akashi's class?" the woman on the loudspeaker said, tapping the microphone a few times which caused an earsplitting screech.
Akashi stuffed his fingers in his ears in an attempt to stop the ringing. After he grumbled bitterly about a growing headache, he replied to the woman with the greatest courtesy, "Yes, Doris?"
"Would you please ask Mister… Oh dear… I'm sorry, I… Mister… Yuh…"
"You mean Mr. Yusuke Urameshi, Doris?"
"One more time?"
"Another time."
"Oh… Well, could you please ask him to come to the front office? There is a visitor here waiting for him. He says that they had a previous engagement."
"Okay. I'll tell him." He turned back to the class and searched for Yusuke in the back of the room. "Well, go on then." He added half to himself, "No skin off my nose."
"Yeah, I can wait on that," Yusuke said quickly.
"That's unlike you."
"Well, I wanna do good this time. I'm tired of getting Fs and my mom and Keiko telling me to do better. So I think I'm gonna sit it out and take everything in and start getting Cs. You say that notes aren't the only thing to study off of and they make more sense with you standing there explaining everything. So no, I'm not going."
"Oh, I insist."
"Hey, he's not joking! The last time his mom saw his report card she was so mad that she… Well, he had some nasty bruises after that! Don't get skeptical! I saw it!" Kuwabara said. Yusuke kicked his desk.
"Look at these notes. Look at them. They're beautiful." Yusuke waved his notebook around. Akashi rolled his eyes and took the notebook from his hand and thumbed through it, not paying attention to what was written.
"I can't say that they're not good but they're not terrible either. I want to see you apply yourself this time. Keep this new act up and you might barely scrape a C minus." He turned back to the intercom. "Doris?"
"Yes, Mr. Akashi?"
"Could this visitor wait on Mr. Urameshi? He says he wants to complete his lesson before leaving."
"Oh… Well…" There was the sound of a light conversation in the background. "Oh… It looks like he says it's okay."
Yusuke buried his face in his arms, pretending that he was looking for something in his bag as he imagined a nice baked goose. I was really hoping that Hiei would get a shot of this guy first. Go frickin' figure this guy's gotta pick now to make the first move.
After the bell rang, Yusuke peered out the window, almost craning his neck to do so to look for any sign of the motorcycle. It wasn't there. Figuring that the man had to have left, he walked out. And even if he did park out somewhere else, his ass is probably still in the office. I can get out of here and then everything works out just as planned.
-.-.-
Kurama was about to work up the courage to look over the edge of the roof when Hiei returned. "Did you get a good shot of him?"
"Yeah. Didn't think it through though. It doesn't do the two of us any good if we have no idea what the hell he's supped to look like other than tall and with sunglasses. In fact, do you have a clue what the Toguros look like?" Hiei asked, handing him the camera.
"I've only heard stories about them. People must know what they look like the same way they know what you and I look like. The other me, I mean."
"…Once a child wrote this report that gave fantasy details of my childhood and then he look a newspaper clipping and pasted it on the paper because he wasn't good enough to draw it himself. People know what I look like."
"You're missing… Never mind. You know, this man looks a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger."
"Who?"
"The governor. And the guy from The Terminator, if you're into that kind of movie."
"I'm not sure whether I should smack you for that or think you should go home and get some sleep. I think the first one sounds better." Hiei snatched the camera, grumbling.
"Well, this mission is for Yusuke's benefit." Kurama looked over the edge. "He's leaving the school and… Oh god, I just looked down!"
"You've fought all those guards and went through every trap in the book and you're afraid of heights! Seriously, what the hell!"
"I don't know. I just happened to get like this when I became human."
"You suck." He looked down. "The motorcycle's gone now."
"I was trying to tell you where he went before I…"
"Which way?"
"To the left." Hiei turned to the right and looked down. "Your other left."
As he grumbled under his breath, "I know my directions," he turned around and removed his bandana, revealing a third eye.
"So what you're hiding there is the Jagan Eye. Explains how you got the high rank so quickly…"
"No. They actually don't know I have it. Not yet. And I didn't do it to help me be a better soldier. I got all I got by hard work and that's the way it should be. Now shut up. I need to concentrate."
Kurama looked back at the street. "Oh look, urg…"
"Would you cut it out!" Hiei kicked him. "Yusuke's coming out right now. He could help decode this crap. I just saw the guy driving around the block. I'm going down there before- shit, he's there right now. I'm getting down there right now and then I'm gonna get paid. I'll catch up to you later."
"Wait don-" He already left. "…leave me here. Oh god…"
-.-.-
"Looks like the coast is clear and I'm getting out of this one…" Yusuke mumbled. Just as he started to pass the gates, a motorcycle pulled up in front of him. The driver stared at him, assuming that the man was thinking that somehow Yusuke was in his way, he mumbled and apology and went the other way.
"Don't act like you don't remember me," the driver said as he removed his helmet. "Go on. Turn around. There you go. You probably don't remember me because you also forgot people have to change clothes daily too."
Yusuke stared at him, then mentally placing sunglasses over the man's eyes, he realized who it was and groaned.
Toguro tossed him the helmet. "Hop on."
"Hell no. Didn't know you joined the Pedo Bear squad, but I don't swing that way," Yusuke snarled.
"Well, then meet me at the building sight for the mall at six o' clock tonight. Don't bring anyone with you. And if you don't come, I will find you."
"Yeah, six. Got it…" Toguro smirked, put his helmet back on and drove away. Yusuke sighed and turned around to see Hiei standing there. "What the…? When'd you get here?"
"Long enough. I don't come early enough though," Hiei replied.
"…That's what she said." Yusuke saw that one coming.
"Who's she?"
"Never mind."
"In any case this mission was pointless since you just walked right up to the guy intentionally or not. Not even Kurama confirmed anything."
"Kurama's...? Where is he?"
"I dunno. Somewhere up there crying probably. What he just told you sounded like a threat. In fact, I'm not sure you should even come alone. The two of us can be in the background. I can hide my energy and then…"
"Quit trying to get more favors out of me, shit."
"I'm not greedy. I'd get a nasty punishment if I failed to protect you when I obviously could have. Whatever Mukuro would hand over to me would pale in comparison to the rest of the fools up top would do. And that's nothing in comparison the Spirit World's response."
"Really? I can take care of myself."
"Spirit World has a form of racism against demons, if you didn't notice so they look for any reason to kill us. I screw up with you and then they'll take out Kurama because he's my partner and then they'll off Mukuro for being unable to control us. And then…"
"I get the picture. He won't kill me. If that's what he wanted he would have done it right here and ran off."
"Does coming alone sound unsuspicious to you or are you saying I've got paranoia?"
"Maybe you do. I get why you're freaking about me being put in danger. I'd want to keep me out of it if I were you too but… I can figure it out on my own."
They stared at each other. Hiei broke the stare and sighed irritably, grumbling something in his native tongue. He finally looked back at Yusuke and said in a tone of finality, "If you die, I'm killing myself and haunting you in the afterlife."
"Yeah, you and your little ghost babies with Mukuro." Yusuke ran home, with Hiei growling at him in his native tongue again.
-.-.-
Hiei returned to the station where Mukuro took him into her office for him to retell the whole situation. (Though Hiei "mercifully" left out Yusuke's final words, thinking that she would get too much of a laugh out of it, regardless of the fact that that detail was irrelevant anyway.) After he finished his explanation, Mukuro rubbed a temple and sighed.
"So you just let him go. Just like that," Mukuro said.
"I tried to tell him not to go, but he wouldn't listen," Hiei quickly replied as if that comment would save him.
"But you know that…"
"Yes, I do! But I doubt stalking him would make any difference. The guy obviously was not wanting to cooperate so I just decided to let him go his way and I go mine. But I did get the time at which he would meet him…"
Her eyes widened with surprise and she walked to the door, put her hand on the door handle. She shook her head and paced behind Hiei in thought.
Hiei turned around in the chair so that his knees were what supported him. "Don't stand behind me. That feels too strange."
"Say that around the right person and they'll add to your discomfort," she replied as she turned around and sat on her desk. "I think there's more to it than you think. I don't think he'll kill him right now. I'm not gonna have you go after him."
"And what if he does kill Yusuke? What then?"
"I gave you the order. My error in judgment will kill me instead of you. You have everyone to back the case. I'm seventy-seven percent sure on this one. Though… Do you happen to have the picture on you?" Hiei handed her the camera. "god, and I think I've seen this man before but where?"
"Does it have to do with the fact that he looks like the governor?"
"What? No. I just… Forget it. There's another flaw in your story, Hiei. Where in the hell did your partner go?"
"I dunno. Last time I saw him he was on the roof of the building. He never came down."
"Wait, and you didn't go back and get him or wait for him to come down! What's wrong with you? Or were thinking, 'Oh, I better hurry back to work because someone might be touching my desk. I can't have that.'"
"I love that desk. That's not funny." Hiei crossed his arms and frowned.
"I suppose that's also cruel irony because that's really not your desk. You just happened to take that desk over when I got promoted."
"…Uh…? It wouldn't be the same to look over and not see you there…?"
Mukuro gave him a look that clearly stated, "Bullshit!" "Flattering. But you would go under cardiac arrest if someone moved 'your' desk so it faces forty-five degrees from where it originally was."
"That'd be catastrophic."
"Case in point. All be-" Kurama stumbled into the room at that moment and threw himself into the chair next to Hiei. "There's Minamino. Wait- why're you're eyes red? Were you crying? What did you do to him, Zamyatin?"
"What? Why blame me? Is it because I'm communist because I did nothing you…"
"I live with you. I obviously have no prejudices against you. Why do you always play that card?" Mukuro held up a hand to hush him. "So what happened?"
And Kurama disrupted the seriousness of the situation. "He… He made me go down a four story building… Down stairs. I've seen hell."
She would have shook her head at that but considering that Kurama has had a good intellectual streak in her book… "That all? I actually happen to like high places. Your partner already filled me in on the situation and apparently he has to do the same for you. You have half an hour until your shift ends and you could use that time to… Find out what you missed and recover from your trauma." As Hiei shrugged and led Kurama out, Mukuro whispered to him, "Just don't get involved. I'm confident it's not what you're thinking it is."
-.-.-
Yusuke walked to the mall, constantly looking over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't being watched as he did so. When he arrived, he pulled an old watch from his pocket but threw it on the ground when he saw that it had stopped working at four-fifty. He shrugged, thinking that there was nothing to lose just by walking up early, but also wishing that there would be a construction worker there to tell him to get lost. But there was no one. No one except for him and the younger Toguro who just pulled up on his motorcycle.
"Look who's early," Toguro said, a half smlie crossing his face.
"You had be by surprise last time, Toguro but this time you're not fooling me," Yusuke snarled. "So cut the crap. What the hell do you want? And while you're telling me that, tell me just why the hell a dead guy like you is walking around."
"You really thought a cheap move like that could finish me off? And even if it did, you would still have had to deal with my brother, and you'd be in even deeper water. He has no mercy like I do."
"Yeah. Guy who tortured some girl for who knows how long. And the guy turned himself into a damn pipe cleaner balloon animal. I'm supposed to notice something like that."
"Come in." Toguro grabbed Yusuke by the arm and pulled him into the empty building.
As soon as Toguro let him go, Yusuke took three steps back. "Sorry. I didn't bring my bowl of jell-o. We can't play haunted house today."
"We're not playing games here. Just the opposite. You know that day I only used thirty percent of my strength? That's right. Only a third and that was enough to take you down. Now if I went to sixty, I would knock down this pillar without breaking a sweat." Toguro placed his hand on it. "This pillar going down would cause a good chunk of the glass planed windows on the ceiling to go down. Would you like to see that, Yusuke? Would you want to see a shower of glass?"
"You don't scare me." Yusuke stood even taller, trying to conceal his shaking arms.
"Oh, you're scared. But if I were to do that, I could send you to the emergency room and maybe even kill you. But I don't want that, now, do I?" He took his hand away.
"What do you want then? Presenting your love for me?"
"Don't be stupid. March sixteenth is the first day if the Dark Tournament. You're supposed to report to this hotel," he gave Yusuke a business card, "about a month from now. Bring the other two who were with you at Tarukane's mansion plus two other members with you on the fifteenth."
"And if I don't?"
"They'll find you. Not me." He walked Yusuke out and he jumped onto his motorcycle. "And another thing. Make sure you get trained because I won't stay at thirty percent for you, and I definitely don't want everything to end within one blow."" He started it up. "Don't disappoint me by not coming."
After Toguro left, Yusuke became aware of the faint sound of sirens in the distance, and the streetlights kicking on. After a moment's thought, he decided that he knew where he had to go…
-.-.-
Kurama glanced at the clock when he heard the first knock at the door. It was about eight-thirty. He had just stepped out of the shower and had gotten dressed. He immediately went to the door at the third knock.
"Yusuke? You're out late," Kurama said with surprise. He offered to let him in, but Yusuke turned him down.
"You know where Hiei's place is?" Yusuke asked.
"A floor above me. Why?"
"I need to tell you guys something. It'd be best to tell all of you at the same time though. I couldn't find stupid Kuwabara."
"It's that important, huh?" They both went up to the next floor, but then, paused when they were there. They exchanged blank stares.
"Kurama… Do you know which room he lives in?"
"Uh… Nope. Just the floor. But there's six rooms on this floor. Let's see… That's… Twenty percent chance each I think…? I think… You carry the…"
"I think it's the one with all the scratches on the door." Yusuke walked up to it to knock on the door. Kurama stopped him.
"I dunno… But what makes you think it's this one?"
"It suits him, doesn't it?"
"I guess? But what if it isn't him?"
"We got more probability!"
A soft voice asked, "What are you two doing?" They both turned around to Mukuro at the top of the staircase, a small stack of papers in her hand. "You aren't playing doorbell tag are you? I thought you two were above that. Especially you, Kurama. You're more than twenty years old. You should have it out of your system."
Yusuke practically pounced on her. "You know where Hiei lives, don't you?" He added as an aside, "That must suck, living in the same area as your boss…"
She looked at him like he was crazy and unlocked the third door from the stairs. "Well, go on then. He isn't home yet so…"
"Man… You guys even have each other's keys. You sure you guys don't have a little something-something going on here?"
"Technically, yes, we do have the same keys, but that's only because we live in the same apartment. BUt don't get the wrong idea- it's been like this for a while only because he doesn't want to find his own place. Plus, I think he supposedly likes my cooking too much to leave," Mukuro explained as they walked in. "It can't wait until tomorrow? Knowing him, he'd probably show up at two in the morning drunk off his ass."
"You sure he's not just coming back?"
"He's gone for a long time. He leaves right after work and comes back in the middle of the night most times. It's not that hard on him. He doesn't usually sleep. You know, if he's not hung over." She shrugged. "I can tell him whatever you need to tell him when he's home and if he'll listen."
"Goddammit. You deal with that shit? This is pissing me off in all ways." Yusuke was about to kick a table, but then he remembered he wasn't in his home or a friend's house. "And this goddamn chair has goddamn bite marks in it!"
"Yusuke, I can deal with people like this. It's no problem. All I can do is kick him in the ass. And that chair is not my fault. Just tell me what he needs to know and I will tell him. Or Kurama. We both work with him. You should go home. Your mother's probably worried."
"My mom's out on Fridays so she kind of doesn't give a damn what I'm doing. And you guys all have to be here to hear it at the same time. I don't repeat myself."
"But Yusuke, you're forgetting Kuwabara…" Kurama said, also eyeing the bite marks on the chair.
"I'm getting all of you and then we'll drag his dumb ass over here and then you'll all know! Shit!" Yusuke growled.
"You're making it harder than it needs to be. We'll wait till tomorrow. You couldn't find him today, he might be out with his family for the weekend." Kurama glanced at Mukuro, made eye contact with her as if making an unsaid agreement and looked back at Yusuke. "Well, we'll all wait til tomorrow, get Kuwbara first thing in the morning, and meet in Mukuro's office. You have Hiei and I there already. You can stay the night with me. I don't mind. You look like you could eat something."
Yusuke reluctantly agreed, and the two walked out. Yusuke stopped in the doorway, and as he looked over his shoulder, he said, "Hey Mukuro. Quit looking all depressed back there. We can still see you."
She gave him a curious look. "Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Nah, but it's less selfish than my next question."
"Shoot."
"You got that meeting next month, don't you?"
She immediately understood. "Yes. Yes, I do. You have someone else in mind, right?"
"I'll try."
-:-:-
Hiei shelved the book he held in his hand as if annoyed that his peaceful rearranging of the books was being disrupted by the others' presence. He finally asked to break the silence. "We're all here and have been for a while now. Are you going to tell us what the hell it is you need to tell us or are you gonna sit there looking stupid?"
Yusuke glared at him and then gathered his thoughts. "So Hiei and… I guess Kurama, maybe Mukuro, both know that I went and met Toguro yesterday. Yeah, Kuwbara, that Toguro. In a nutshell, he didn't really die and he was just pulling our leg. He didn't want to kill me at that moment but he will at the Dark Tournament. Me, Kuwabara, and you too, Hiei- don't give me that look. If you didn't burst in like you did you wouldn't be dragged in- are required to go. Kurama's coming with us. Just need a fifth man,"
"Hold it. We can't go," Kuwabara said. "We're human. Or you and I are human. They can't invite us over."
"That's what I was thinking but…" Yusuke shrugged.
"Humans can get invited if a team has ordered it to happen. It has only happened in a case where they see a human getting too close into demon affairs. That's what I've been told," Mukuro said. "That's how Genkai was thrown in."
"Okay… Then turn them down," Kuwabara replied, turning to Yusuke.
"I don't wanna get killed," Yusuke said. "Look. I'll take care of everything. We just need to train and then we'll be good, right?"
"Well, you know a lot of what to expect so you can fill us in there," Kuwabara said to Mukuro, begging for some reassurance.
"I have the meeting that week. I can't make it. Though the president was a smart ass enough to have it on the same island. If anything, I'd just sit in the stands and cheer you on. But that's a little risky," she replied, shrugging. "I wouldn't want to come if I was asked anyway."
"Like I said, I'll try and get as much taken care of as possible. I'll get the fifth man taken care of. So on the fifteenth, we're showing up at this hotel." He placed the card on the table. "Just copy it down. I'm gonna need it for the committee's email. Oh yeah…" He pulled out a folded over paper from his pocket. "Make sure I got your names spelled right."
"My name isn't Hea," Hiei said simply.
"Okay, how do you spell it?"
"Like it sounds."
"I spelled it how it sounds right there."
"That's what's wrong with you Americans. You can't spell a damn thing right. And then you place a thousand rules that can easily be contradicted."
"I didn't ask for a language lesson. Spell your damn name."
"H. I. E. I. You got the last name right though."
"That's not how it sounds. That looks weird."
"It's not my real name anyway."
"What's your real name if you're so smart?"
"It's Vladien Lvov," Mukuro cut in jokingly. "Apparently we're all calling him by his middle name. I've been calling him that because that's what he introduced himself as."
"Legally yes. But I have another. And Vladimir is too common a name anyway," Hiei growled. "Aren't you something like Mary Strauss or something?"
"Not even close. Do I really look like a Mary though?"
"What the…? These aren't your real names? This is a real mind fuck," Yusuke said, tucking the paper away.
"You don't need to know," Hiei replied brusquely. "You said you need to train. We can arrange it after we both get out of work."
"I got Genkai. I know she'd take me in hands down when I tell her what happened. And that way, I can get some info on what it's like seeing how she turns out to have done it."
"Kuwabara, you're willing to do it?" Kurama asked. Kuwabara nodded.
"So if anything happens, we meet up here. Let's get each other's numbers. I don't have a computer or anything to use so…"
There was an awkward silence following that statement. Mukuro said, "You guys better come back champions. I don't want Hiei's ghost haunting me because someone took over his desk." Hiei threw a book at her and missed by a few inches.
-:-:-
"Hello there. My, you're a big fellow," the man with the black hair said to the man also occupying the elevator. The other man was so larger that he had to bend over a bit to stand in the room. "You here to see Mr. Toguro as well? Yes, the git went and called me up in the middle of the night saying that he needed a hand in the tournament. After fifty years, the man is at it again. Say, did you hear what we're up against? A human, of all things! This is supposed to be the one who took out the Saint Beasts single handedly. Can you believe that? Not much of a talker, are you? I suppose he called you up in the middle of the night as well. Prat. Though I wish I could say that to his face. But I'd probably be in a world of hurt. Eh, wouldn't be so bad. Bit shy, aren't you?"
Then the elevator came to the floor they dreaded….
/And there was none.
End of Season 1...
Notes:
1. Fact: Singles Appreciation Day is pure bull shit and everyone who calls it that is only doing so to hide their depression for being alone. I'm frickin single and I use Valentine's Day as an excuse to each chocolate. Screw you guys.
2. A boke is one of the members of a Japanese comedy pair. Don't ask me what role this is though. Also, did I already mention monjyayaki? Well, if I didn't Hiei likes it a lot and it's canon. Credit for this knowledge goes to Jaganshi Kenshin.
3. Hiei looks like a secret sweet tooth.
4. I thought Toguro looks like my governor. No one really believes me.
5. Vladien is another form of the name Vladimir. This is legally his name in the USSR but he considers the name his mother gave him to be his true name. Heinrich Reinhard. (As much as he hated the guy.) Demons that work here have to put their name into a file (you've noticed with Yukina) and often times, they change their own names. Mukuro's name is really weird. It just is. Those two are total hams.
There's a reason I don't write Hiei's accent. It would be ugly. (And he's not a drunk, so everyone thinks, because he's Russian. It just happened that way without my knowing it's a stereotype. I actually have a reason for it…) Anyway, thanks for reading up to this point. Reviews are always appreciated.
Much love, JC.
(edit: The real names of the characters are as follows:
Mukuro: Maria Delacroix
Hiei: Vladien Heinrichovich Lvov/ Heinrich Reinhard, Jr.
Kirin: Ismael Ramos
...This is all I have planned so far. I need to figure out Yomi's actually...)