"Talking"
"Thinking"
-Telepathisis-
Flashback

-x-x-x-x-
Chapter Six
Let the Games Begin

The boy visibly gulps. "Father, you can't harm them. They saved me!"

The god's eyes slowly trail to us. "Is this true?"

"Look at their injuries!" The girl in the kimono who followed him cries. "They got them defending him, Enma Sir!"

His eyes narrow as they gaze upon us.

Kat bites her lip; I fight the urge to step in front of her.

0x0x0x0

Sora smirks as he approaches Kimi's room; today is her first day of school and he will enjoy waking her like she woke him every day during break. On his way there, he must cut through the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting Kimi up." He replies absently as he passes.

Yukina sighs and hopes he doesn't start too much trouble.

0x0x0x0

"Kimi, wakey wakey!" He calls in an obscenely cheerful voice.

Two vengeful orange eyes glare at him from a slit in between bed and sheet. "You suck."

"Yep." The black haired boy grins. "Now up."

"If you think I'm dressing with an audience..."

That sends the teen skittering out into the hall; the door is promptly slammed shut. All he hears for the next few moments are muffled curses and the sound of drawers being hastily yanked open. The demoness then huffily exits the room, looking spectacularly harrassed in the school's uniform.

"Uhm...we may have to..."

"May have to what?" She questions, a dangerous edge in her voice.

"...do something about your hair..."

"If they don't like my hair color, they can stuff it."

"Kimi-"

"I'll even tell 'em where to-"

"KIMI!" The almost-flushing Sora stares at her in a mixture of frustration and admiration.

"Yep. Don't care. Anyways, don't we need to get going?"

"...what's with the slang?"

"I'm gonna be a punk, like you...only...more punkish."

"Shuttup."

0x0x0x0

Kurama walks to school silently; he is lost in his thoughts. Yesterday his mother had asked if anything was wrong; he told her no, but she persisted.

"Since when have I been so easy to read..." He thinks with a hint of a sulk in his mental voice. The red head then bumps into someone and nearly knocks them flat on their ass.

"Watch it!" The person snaps irritatedly; he looks down to find Kimi; Sora is offering her a hand up. She accepts and is tugged to her feet. "What the hell is your problem, K-"

"He's Shuichi here." Sora corrects blandly.

Kimi gives him a flat look. "I don't care if he's the Queen of fucking England here."

The boy smiles and shakes his head. "I don't know what's with you and that phrase..."

"I spent some time in America." She mutters as Sora successfully distracts her. The two continue on, leaving a poleaxed and somewhat annoyed Kurama to stare after them.

"What the hell? They're friends now? It's been a week! ...why do I even care?" With that, Kurama resolves to ignore them.

That proves to be difficult, as Sora (and by default, Kimi) is in all of his classes.

0x0x0x0

Kimi scowls as the two head from first to second period. "I definitely recall you saying you were 'only in academic' classes."

Sora blinks. "I am. That's the higher level classes here."

The girl groans and prays she'll survive math.

0x0x0x0

Kuwabara camps out with his friends on the roof for lunch; Yusuke and, surprisingly Keiko, join them...though Yusuke keeps stealing food from everyone. When his friends and Keiko head inside to throw away their trash, Kuwabara turns to Yusuke.

"It's been kinda quiet lately, huh?"

"Yeah." Yusuke agrees as he scans the horizon, as though it will tell him what's going on. "Too quiet."

"So whaddaya think of our new teammates, Urameshi?"

"They're okay. You?"

"I think they're alright...but we need to get Kurama back."

The black haired boy sighs as the wind ruffles his hair. "Agreed."

0x0x0x0

Kimi grumbles obscenities in her primary language and blinks when Sora gives her an odd look. "What?"

"What language is that?"

She sighs. "It's the root language for Latin."

"Does it have a name?" Sora questions.

"Uhm...yeah. But I have no idea how to translate it into Japanese..." She grins sheepishly, then blinks. "What's-"

His eyes are closed tightly; whether to ward off the pain or try to block out the light, he cannot say. As he tries to explain that it is just a headache, it intensifies to the point where he loses all sensation.

Kimi's eyes widen as she recognizes the similarity in his behavior now and when he had a flashback the first time. She hurriedly glances around; no one is paying them any mind. A moment of hesitation is all she allows herself before scooping him up and sneaking to the roof. When she reaches it, she mentally kicks herself before using her energy to lessen the impact the flashback will have on him...at least in the physical sense.

0x0x0x0

"Mr. Maki. You are late." States the teacher as he irately taps a meter stick against the floor; the rhythm it makes picks up as several students snicker and the whispers begin.

"I was showing our new student around." He bites out in a partially civil tone and steps aside to reveal Kimi.

"Very well." The teacher turns to Kimi. "Do you actually know where anything is?"

The demoness bites her tongue and keeps her face calm, though inwardly she seethes. "Yep."

Sora's gaze holds a trace of surprise when he glances at her; it fades when he recalls that she wants to be known as a punk like himself.

The teacher's eyes narrow. "Then give me directions to the gym, if you please." A slight smirk of contempt begins to curl the corners of his mouth. Sora mentally sweatdrops and decides he may yet pity the man, despite how much he dislikes him.

"Well, first you need to find the doorknob, grasp it, twist it and tug on it to open the door." She fights the urge to smirk when the students snicker or giggle when they catch what could be considered innuendo. "Then you turn left and walk down the hallway. When you reach the area where it intersects with another hallway, you make another left and walk straight until you see the large gym doors. You then have to open them and walk inside."

The class stops laughing and snickering when they see that the teacher's stony look.

He calmly pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "You, Miss-?"

"It's Kimi." She supplies.

"Your surname."

"Delaetus."(1) She replies.

"Well, for your pert tongue, Miss Delaetus, you have landed yourself and Mr. Maki in detention. Any further questions?"

"Yah. Why punish him for what I said?"

The rest of the class stares as the teacher turns puce and Sora sighs.

0x0x0x0

Kurama sighs; throughout the day he has to remind himself not to check for the others' auras or keep an ear out for the communication mirror Koenma gave him. Kimi and Sora being in all his classes is not helping him resign himself to a "normal" life.

"I thought it would be so easy to just give it all up..." He thinks as he stands on the roof during lunch, watching the other students play around below. In his hand is the communication mirror; his gaze slides down to it. "Why don't I just throw it away? I don't need it anymore..." Another small sigh escapes him as the wind combs his hair. When the bell to return from lunch rings, he finds himself hesitating. "If I drop it from here, I doubt even Kaito would be able to fix it..." His fingers still refuse to release the purple compact; he decides that he will get rid of it tomorrow.

0x0x0x0

The god regards us coldly. "For what reason would you save my son?"

Kat opens her mouth slightly, but freezes before her voice can leave her throat.

"I didn't know he was your son." I mutter. "I just don't condone killing kids."

The gaze becomes less hostile, but only slightly. "And if I killed you two...?"

"Depends on the culture. In mine, I'm an adult. In hers, she's kid. In demon world, we're kids. Here? ...I have no idea." I reply without thinking.

A frown reappears as he considers us closely.

I glance at Kat; she's trying to conceal her trembling. I stand up straighter and meet his scrutiny with a calm, level gaze and pray that my words did not just sign our death warrant.

-x-x-x-x-

(1) - I was so bored...and I wanted her to have to ad-lib. Delaetus = del (of the) and laetus (glade). In short...Kimi of the Glade. [Del is Spanish, laetus is Latin] Prounounced: Di-lay-tus. (Her entire name translates to: Empress of the Glade)

Wow. Just wow. "Come back in a few minutes"...mmhm. Riiiight. Does 'minute' translate to hours, possibly days, where bugs are concerned? I've tried to log in about ten times. It's not working. At. All. And I got the same message as last night. I waited almost an entire day...and it's still not working. Really?

Ahem. Sorry. Pisticated here. Oy. Vey. Ish. Mere.
Make that eleven.
Emma
PS: Sorry for the shortness...but...I need to move the plot along and I need to start the next chapter in order to do that. :sheepish look: