Paper Voice
A YYH Fanfic
Chapter Nine
A couple of months later Genkai called Yusuke's place while Katrina was reading and Catherine was in the shower so Daiku answered. "Hello?"
"Who is this?" Genkai asked she hadn't met Daiku yet.
"This is Daiku, Catherine's boyfriend, who's this?"
"Ah, so you're the brat's boyfriend, where is she?"
"She's busy at the moment who are you?"
"This is Genkai, now get the vixen or the brat but give the phone to one of them I don't feel like talking to someone I don't know, about things that are none of their business."
"Vixen? Oh, hang on," Daiku put a hand over the phone and called, "Onee-chan, phone, it's Genkai!"
Katrina put her book down and got up slowly, stretching and rubbing her tired eyes as she made her way to the phone; she took it from Daiku and said hello.
"Katrina, get Catherine and head over here now, you two have had enough time off now it's time to train some more. *CLICK*" Genkai said what she'd wanted and hung up the phone. Katrina sighed and put the phone back on the receiver then knocked on the bathroom door, "Cat, Genkai wants us at her place fifteen minutes ago!"
"NOOO!" Katrina heard Catherine screech, "I don't wanna go back for more training I thought we were done!"
Katrina ignored Catherine's complaints and headed back to their room to make sure all her things were packed; Catherine barged in with soaking, dripping hair a couple minutes later. Daiku was right behind her and asked, "Who's Genkai and why does she want you back for training?"
"Genkai is Yusuke's old friend/trainer and she's a slave driver when it comes to training!" Catherine whined.
"Aw, c'mon she's not that bad, Cat, besides she probably wants us back so she can teach us how to change forms and remain in control of ourselves."
"If that's the case I wonder how she'll go about it. Hey, how long do ya think she's gonna keep us this time? If it's very long do you think she'll let Daiku come and train with us?"
"Neh, I doubt she'll let Daiku come, I can't imagine her wanting to put up with another student, she's already got her hands full with you and Yukina lives with her and Kuwabara's always visiting. Training wise... who knows, Genkai's unpredictable."
"You mean we're going to have to LD, Cat? That's not fair; I want to train too..." Daiku's voice trailed off at the look his girlfriend gave him.
"Trust me, you do not want to train with Genkai, Daiku, you should ask Yusuke to train you if you want to train so badly. And it wouldn't really be a long distance relationship for you guys, since Genkai is only a two hour train ride from here," Katrina said.
"Che, a two hour train ride and a mile and a half of nothing but stairs to get to her temple," Catherine chimed in. After a little more complaining and figuring out what she and Daiku would do Catherine packed her things and asked Katrina to dry her hair. Katrina sighed but warmed her hands and brushed them over Catherine's hair and when she was done Catherine looked like she had an afro. "Heh, oops, didn't expect that," Katrina giggled.
"What? What'd you- AH! Give me a brush now!" Catherine shouted, searching frantically through her bag for a brush.
"Aww, I like your hair better this way," Katrina teased.
"Shut up, we need to get going and you messing with my hair isn't going to get us out if here any faster."
Katrina and Daiku helped Catherine tame her hair and then the girls gathered their things and headed to the door; before they got there Daiku grabbed Catherine's wrist and spun her towards him into a kiss, a long kiss that turned into a lot of kisses.
"If you two are going to make out I think I'll just head off to the train station without you," Katrina said, rolling her eyes. She headed out the door and Catherine slowly pulled away from Daiku, "I'd better get going then," she said, "Keep in touch, visit every once in a while 'kay? Don't forget about your girlfriend."
"Tell Onee-chan I said bye." Catherine was at the door but stopped and turned to ask, "Why do you call her Onee-chan?"
"A couple months ago, you remember when we had our first date? I asked her for some advice and before we split up she told me to call her Onee-chan. She said I reminded her of her brother, why do you ask?"
"Just curious, hey maybe I should call her Onee-chan too, she is older and more mature than me as well, besides maybe it'll annoy her. Hey, have you noticed that she seems... a little more cautious when she has to go out by herself now? I've been concerned about that too, ever since we started dating she seems on edge more often than not, I wonder if it's because of us."
"I don't know, maybe you should talk to her about it you're her best friend after all."
"Yeah, you're right; bye, remember to visit and don't forget me!"
"Never in a million years, bye."
Catherine left Yusuke's apartment and found Katrina staring over the railing waiting for her, "Hey, I thought you'd be almost to the station by now, are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine I just didn't feel like riding the train by myself, that's all. Daiku hogs you all the time so I thought I'd wait for you," Katrina teased, but Catherine could see in her eyes that Katrina was hiding something, her relationship with Daiku might be part of the problem but she doubted that. Katrina was always supportive and encouraging of Daiku and Catherine's relationship and she spent plenty of time with her best friend. And Katrina was usually all about being able to take care of herself because she hated feeling helpless, but lately she seemed scared of the world, and Catherine remembered that the day she and Daiku had had their first date she'd seen Katrina and Kurama together but not in a relationship way, it was like he was comforting her after a traumatic experience. Catherine had asked Katrina about it but she said she didn't feel like talking about it, and Kurama seemed to come over more often and spend time with Katrina, which was great but Katrina always seemed depressed around everyone lately.
When Katrina and Catherine were on the train Catherine inquired about it, "Katrina, is everything okay? You seem to be really depressed lately even when Kurama comes over to hang out with you. And he's been coming over a lot lately, I think he likes you, has he asked you out yet?"
Katrina had been reading her book but glanced at Catherine and quickly turned back to her book, it was a very quick glance but Catherine could see tears forming in Katrina's eyes. "Katrina, what's wrong? Will you please tell me, we used to talk about everything and now you've really retreated into yourself and your books, I can't help you if you won't talk to me?"
"I- I'd really rather not talk about it here," Katrina whispered.
Catherine understood that whatever was bothering Katrina was serious so she kept her mouth shut but gave her friend a strong hug and rubbed her back for a bit. At one point Katrina fell asleep and leaned against Catherine, some people gave the girls weird looks and Catherine glared at them and they looked away.
Katrina was still asleep when they reached the stop the girls needed so Catherine woke her and they got off and headed for Genkai's place. Catherine wanted to get Katrina to talk but she could see she wasn't ready so she waited until they were on the stairs leading to Genkai's before she asked again.
"Alright, Kat, it's time to talk. What's been bothering you so much lately?"
Katrina took a deep stuttering breath and said, "Okay, you have to promise not to tell anyone about this, Kurama is the only one who knows what happened and I don't want the other's to worry about me."
"I promise, we're best friends remember, I never tell anyone what we say to each other unless it's okay with you," Catherine replied and gave Katrina another gentle hug.
Katrina took another deep breath and then told Catherine everything that happened two months before after she'd run across the street to the ice cream shop. A few times Katrina had to stop and take a breath or wipe away tears and blow her nose but when she was finished telling her story she sighed with relief and smiled the first genuine smile in over two months.
"Wow, that's horrible, I'm so glad that Kurama was able to stop that guy before he did any more to you; Kat, I- I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, if you'd come with us that wouldn't have happened to you. I wish I'd taken more notice sooner and helped you, I'm so sorry!" Catherine said giving her bffl a giant rib crushing hug refusing to let go.
"ACH! Cat, I... can't... breathe!" Katrina gasped.
"Don't worry we'll find this guy and I'll take care of him for you, he'll never touch another woman like that again!" Catherine vowed.
"Cat, don't, I was scared of him but thanks to you and Kurama; I think I feel a whole lot safer and better. No one's going to get to me like that again; but beating the guy up won't do any good. Now, we'd better get to Genkai's sometime today or she's going to make us train through the night," Katrina finished with a smile as she took off running up the steps.
"Heh, hey, wait up! You said Kurama's been helping you and that he saved you and gave you a hug, so does this mean you two are an official couple now?"
"You never know!" Katrina called back.
"C'mon, Onee-chan, if you two aren't a couple yet then I'm going to make you be a couple it's obvious that you two are crazy about each other so just admit it and give everybody what they've been waiting for. We can all see it; you guys are perfect for each other!"
Katrina stopped and Catherine nearly ran her over, "Wh-" Catherine cut herself off when she saw Kurama walking down the steps a little surprised to see them. "Hey, Kurama! So are you and Kat an official couple or what she won't tell me," Catherine called.
When Kurama was standing just a couple of stairs above them he answered Catherine's question, "Well, I don't know that you would call us a couple, we have been spending more time together but I was..." he stopped and looked at Katrina with a question in his eyes, Have you told her about what happened? Is it okay for me to bring it up? Katrina nodded and Kurama went on, "I was helping her through a rough time, we weren't really dating but..." Kurama turned to Katrina again and spoke directly to her, "If you want us to be a couple then I am perfectly fine with that, I've grown to like you more than any girl I've meet in a long time. Katrina, would you be my girlfriend?"
Katrina's entire face turned a deep red and Catherine tried to contain a laugh but couldn't, "C'mon, Onee-chan, you've liked him since you met him and you said that you wanted him to ask you so just say yes!"
Katrina looked down and took a deep breath, "Yeah, yes, I would be honored," she replied. Catherine burst out laughing so hard she nearly fell backwards, "You two are definitely perfect for each other! You're both so formal in your questions and answers! HAHAHAHAHAH!"
Kurama and Katrina cracked up too as Katrina grabbed Catherine's shoulder to keep her from falling; when the laughing had settled Catherine said, "Whelp, I guess I'll leave you two lovebirds- I mean kitsunes- alone, here give me your bag, Onee-chan and I'll let Genkai know you're coming." Katrina blushed again but handed her bag to Catherine and walked up the steps to stand in front of Kurama. As Catherine walked past them Kurama pulled Katrina into a kiss and she blushed so hard her face burned my first kiss, she thought, well, my first official kiss.
"I'd better let you go so Genkai doesn't kill us; I'll visit as much as I can. Goodbye... Katrina," Kurama said, pulling out of the kiss.
"Bye, if anyone asks their curiosity can now be satisfied," Katrina smiled as she waved goodbye to her boyfriend.
Genkai wasn't happy to be kept waiting but she quickly explained what the girls had already guessed: they were going to train in their demon forms. "There isn't much that I can do to help you two with this but you need to know how to change form at will. When you have accomplished that your training will be over. . . Unless there's something else I need to teach you later." And with that Genkai left the girls to figure out how to change form on their own. "Well, I'm going to try and meditate in the woods, maybe the shadow realm will help you, Cat," Katrina said, as she walked towards the tree line, "Say hi to Yukina for me if you see her!" she finished as she disappeared. Cat heaved a sarcastic sigh and opened a portal into the shadow realm and stepped through it into total darkness.
After what felt like hours of nothing but floating in the dark with nothing happening, Catherine yawned and decided to check on Katrina's progress. She located Katrina's shadow and floated through it; she found Katrina still meditating in a tree but she was obviously having better luck than Catherine. Katrina had kitsune ears and a tail and her outfit and hair had changed too: her hair was in a single, long, braid down her back; she was wearing baggy cameo pants and a black tank top. Then Katrina slowly opened her eyes and Catherine saw that they were a deep scarlet. "Hey, Cat, how long have you been hiding in my shadow?" she asked.
"Not long I only just popped up to check on your progress, how long have you been out here? You look like you accomplished what Genkai expects of you."
"Hmm?" Katrina looked down at herself, "Oh, I guess I did, well it looks like you did too, your eyes are completely black and have shadows streaming out the sides of them, it's kinda creepy, and your outfits changed too."
"It has? Wait. My eyes are shadows now? COOL!" Catherine looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing black form fitting jeans and a black midriff top; her hair was up in a ponytail and her nails looked like they'd grown and were dipped in black poison.
While she was taking in her own appearance Katrina was doing the same thing, she felt her ears and tail and nearly fell out of the tree in excitement. "We look so cool!" the girls said in unison.
"I wonder if Genkai will make us stay since we managed to change or if she wants us to actually train in these forms." Catherine said. Katrina jumped out of the tree and Catherine offered her a ride through the shadow realm back to Genkai's, "I love ya like a sister, Cat, but there is absolutely no way I'm going back into that place again."
"Suit yourself, it's getting dark and we're a long way from Genkai's," Catherine shrugged her shoulders as she sank into Katrina's shadow.
"What better way to test out my senses than in the dark?" Katrina replied, but Catherine was already gone.