I'm very sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter, blame WildBlue for cutting off my Internet. I made it long to make up for it! Oh and I want to thank Heve-chan for her review. I tried to keep it in mind when writing this chapter, and of course I don't hate you! Your criticism was exactly what I needed and the exact moment I read it. I hadn't even started the chapter before I read it because I just wasn't motivated. I had lost my track, and I had no clue where to go. So I'm hesitantly dedicating this chapter to you, hoping it doesn't shame you! And as for the rest of my readers, thank you so much for your support as well! I feel mean just mentioning one of my reviewers, but please know that every time I get one that I read it and they all make my day brighter! So again, I hope this chapter meets everyone's expectations, and Happy Reading!
For what seemed like forever, everything was silent. The men in the room looked like they were listening to someone, and then they all looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
"Yukina, why don't you help Suteki with her wounds?" it was the redheaded one that spoke up. Apparently he was the one that had pulled me away. He led me to a chair and I sat. The small blue haired girl looked hesitant, but the man spoke again, "It's alright. She wasn't thinking straight. Hiei explained what was going through her head when she attacked."
The explanation of his kindness disturbed me. #Wait. Did that man read my mind?# I made sure my signs were slow, and I mouthed everything very clearly.
There was a slight pause, and then the reply came as Yukina started to unwind my bandages.
"Yes, he can. He's our translator until you heal. I'm Kurama by the way; this is Yusuke, and then Kuwabara." His nervous smile told me that he was trying to bring away from the fact that the Hiei one was probing my mind. Then I noticed they had me sitting across from a window. I knew if I squinted I would see the man sitting somewhere out there with his distaining glare. But I didn't squint. I just looked down in resignation. At least I could communicate with these people.
'Tell them I'm sorry for what I did to their friend.' What was the point of using the signs? Why try and fool myself into thinking that there wasn't someone in my mind.
"It's fine. Shorty's been through worse. So what was that thing you were doing with your hands? It was pretty scary." The one that Kurama pointed out to be Yusuke plopped into a chair diagonal from me, just as Yukina finished up and started re-wrapping me.
Just as I was about to reply, Botan cut in. "Don't you know anything Yusuke? It's Sign Language! Mainly used by the Deaf." How matter-of-fact she sounded made me smile. After Yukina finished I pulled out the poster and showed it to them.
'Tell them that this is just the alphabet and that there are thousands of signs for all sorts of things.' I couldn't help but get just a little excited about their interest. I watched as the carrot top one tried to spell his name and let out a silent laugh.
"This isn't fair. My hands are made for pounding faces, not making signs!" he pouted.
"I thought your hands were made for cuddling kittens?" Yusuke taunted. I could tell that this was an everyday thing, and kind of drifted away mentally, looking around.
The kitchen seemed warm, simple cabinets and countertops, and as I ran my hand over the table, I felt a strange feeling in my gut. How is it that I could feel so welcome to such a new place so fast? Stealing a glance at Genkai, I caught the sly smirk play at the corner of her mouth.
"…that feel any better?" I just caught the end of Yukina's question, but I caught enough to give her a gracious smile and a small nod. She seemed so delicate. I could see the pain buried deep inside though. She longed for something. I was about to let the curious child out, but suddenly I felt an emotion, anger, burn though the back of my mind. For some reason I decided not to ask. What place was it of mine to ask anyway? Either way, my neck did feel remarkably better. I almost tested out my voice to thank her, yet as I swallowed I felt the all too familiar sting I knew not to risk it.
"You're so rude Yusuke! Suteki has only been here a few minutes and you're already embarrassing everyone by picking on Kuwabara!" Botan was yelling Yusuke.
#It's fine, I'm the burden. You shouldn't have to change the way you act just for me.# I decided to ignore the fact that the red eyed man was my translator. I just continued to fingerspell everything slowly, and try to convey my words through facial expression. Yusuke and Kuwabara were intently looking from the poster to my hands, but they were lucky to have a cheat running through their mind.
"Suteki, you are no burden. Here, I'll show you to your room." Kurama took one last look at the poster, then out the window. He gestured toward a stairwell, and I followed him hesitantly. It felt slightly claustrophobic, but having Kurama there was a little reassuring.
"Where did you learn Sign Language?" he asked, slowing his pace slightly to walk beside me so he could watch my hands.
I hesitated for a moment, almost physically cringing and the sharp mental pain of Mimi's memory. It only lasted a moment, though.
#I learned it from a slave girl that came through. She was deaf.# It was almost tiring to fingerspell so much, I could feel my hands starting to cramp.
"A deaf girl that came through taught you? Did I get that right?" He chuckled lightly when I nodded. "I almost got lost at the fifth word or so."
#You are very good at memorization. You only saw the poster a few times.# I was extremely impressed. It took me forever to learn the alphabet. Finally we reached the top, a dim hallway with several doors on either side.
"It's nothing, really. I'm used to memorizing things. I'm graduating from my high school in a few months. Well, here's your room. Mine is right across, Kuwabara and Yusuke are to the right and left, and Hiei's is cattycorner. Hiei is the only one that stays here all the time, try not to kill him, the rest of us stay with our families except on weekends. We do come after school pretty much every day, though." I heard what he said, but I was already headed in the room.
I had never had a room all to myself before. I was either in a crude tent with about a dozen other girls, or lying under the stars. It all seemed so amazing. The walls and ceiling were white, a solid cherry floor, and the best looking thing in the world. A bed.
"It's not much, but—" He was cut off by me plopping on the soft bed. I must have had a look of sheer joy on my face. It was so soft I could've fallen asleep right there. When I looked over at him I saw his warm smile and I felt a strange vibration in my chest that I recognized as excitement. This was my room. I had a room.
"The bathroom is through this door, we made sure that you had one to yourself." I could hear the chuckling peeking through his voice.
I hurried through the door to the right of the room, only to see a woman staring straight back at me. Her face looked excited at first, then confused. Then I felt extremely stupid. This was a mirror. I had found a small one in Master's tent when I was still very small. Back then a round dirty face had looked back at me, but this time was different. I looked…strange.
My hair was bark brown and short, hanging around my chin slightly matted. My eyes shone a golden brown. My face looked strangely skinny; my skin had a dark tan. The white of the bandages on my neck was a harsh contrast. I looked rough. When I cringed at the sight, I saw a flash of white. I then pulled my lips back in what looked like a vicious snarl, and saw sharp canines.
After I was done with the examination, I turned to Kurama and signed, #I haven't seen my reflection in at least thirteen years. The water we drank was always too murky to create one.#
"Well I hope you found your reflection as pleasing as we did." I felt insecure, a part of me told myself that he was lying, but his sweet smile boosted my confidence slightly.
#Thank you. I'll just take a bath, everyone will be downstairs, right?# I just wanted a while to myself after everything.
"Of course. We won't be leaving until tomorrow afternoon after a bit of training. There are towels and such in the cabinet. Come back down whenever you're ready." He gave me a final smile and then walked out, shutting the door behind him.
I let out a sigh and reflected on the past few days as I undressed and started the water. After a while of fiddling with the knobs, I figured out which controlled the hot and which controlled the cold. The water was so amazing clear. It would be embarrassing to point out all the little things that put me in awe, but my favorite was the body wash. It took off the dirt so quickly! After I got out I dried off, catching a sight of my wound. It looked red and angry, black stiches poking through puckered skin. It was all haloed in blue and green bruises. It made me marvel at the fact that I was alive. Was that spikey man really to thank for that? Either way, I bandaged it, and then noticed there were clothes folded on the sink counter. Where those there before? It was a white kimono with branches climbing up the skirt, fall leaves reaching out from them.
I was never one to turn down free clothing. Years of scrapping together what I could taught me that. So I put it on. It was beautiful, but it shamed me how the fabric fit so clumsily to my scrawny frame. However, it was better than my stained clothing.
When I walked back into my bedroom, I took a few moments to look around again. There was a dresser and a nightstand, then the glorious bed. The furniture was made of the same wood as the floor, and everything else was white, smooth, pure.
Walking down the stairs I heard laughter and smelled food. The waft of aroma made my mouth water. It smelled amazing. My pace picked up considerably and I almost stumbled down the last few stairs. Little did I know that all of the boys, Botan, and Genkai were sitting in the living room. I hadn't noticed that my decent had caused quite a bit of ruckus. The laughter had stopped; they all just stared at me. Then when I shyly signed #Food?# Yusuke and Kuwabara busted out laughing again.
"Not quite yet, Suteki. Just a while longer." Kurama was hiding a laugh behind his hand as he said it. My mouth made an "O" shape, and I slowly moved to sit on the floor next to the coffee table.
"That kimono looks beautiful on you! I went through the clothes that I've never wore and found some other ones that you can have." Botan was beaming, looking extremely proud of herself.
#Thank you. You really didn't have to.# I had to push up the sleeves so they could see my signs.
I noticed that it took her a few seconds to tell me that it was 'no big deal' and that made me quickly scan the room. There he is, sitting on the window sill. A pain fluttered through my chest, and I looked down sadly. Then I got up, determined to do this before my backbone turned to jelly. Kurama's eyes sharpened, and he made a move to stand as well, but I motioned for him to stay.
Hiei turned to look at me with fire in his eyes, and I walked up to him. When I was about a foot away from him, close enough to feel the heat radiating off of him, I started signing rapidly, knowing that he would just read my mind anyway.
#I am sorry for the way I acted before. It was an inappropriate way of… thanking you… for saving my life. Seeing as you stay here most of the time, unlike the others, I hope we can move past my actions and at the very least not hate each other.# I could feel my confidence slipping from me by the end of my apology, and I knew he sensed it.
It took him a while to respond, even though I knew he wasn't trying to translate my signs. He had kept eye contact with me the entire time. Then he turned to look back out the window and said "Hn."
I'm assuming that was a good sign? He didn't try to kill me. Okay, so that was over. I turned back around and smiled at the others.
"Excuse me…" Yukina had peeked through the doorway to the kitchen, "Dinner is ready." Her face was so innocent, for a moment I had an unexplainable urge to protect her. She wasn't in danger though... Strange. Then her words hit me full force and my stomach snarled at me, brutally reminding me that I hadn't eaten all day. Everyone looked at me strangely, and I tried to play it off with a silent laugh.
The girl clambered down the stairs like a clumsy pup. Vanilla and forest filled my nostrils like the first time I saw her, but I didn't turn to look at her. I just took her public thoughts and routed them into the other's minds. How in the world was I convinced to do this annoying job?
Then I felt her eyes on me, heard her footsteps. I turned to finally look at her. It seemed that she had worked the mats from her hair, and the kimono she was wearing looked ridiculously huge on her. It was like she was a walking joke. I noticed she started moving her hands in those tedious signs, but her thoughts were loud and clear.
When she finished I noticed she was trembling slightly. I brushed her off with a "hn" then looked back out the window. It was about time she apologized, not that her apologies meant anything to me, but she was admitting her stupidity and that was more than most would've done. When I heard her turn back around I stole a glance at her.
Stupid girl.
I followed everyone into the kitchen, making sure to stay in front of Hiei, keeping him in my blind spot as a subliminal sign of weakness and submission. The spread on the table looked amazing. Rice, beef, and a heaping platter of vegetables. I wanted to gorge myself, but I remembered that I couldn't eat any of it. I must have looked disappointed because Yukina tapped my shoulder.
"I know about your restrictions, but I didn't know what kind of soup you like. I made several for you to choose from…" she gestured to the counter where five pots sat.
"That's not fair! Suteki got more food than us!" Yusuke wined and plopped in a chair, pouting like a child who had a present taken away from them.
I walked over to the soups and they all looked so delicious. I beamed and gave Yukina a quick hug before filling a bowl and perching myself in the chair across from Kurama and gulped some down. I immediately had to set the bowl down and collect myself.
#This is the best thing I have ever tasted. Thank you, so much.# Tears beaded up in my eyes as I hurriedly poured the rest down my parched throat as she in turn thanked me for the compliment. I suddenly felt so warm and full that guilt washed over me. I had to try all of them! I shouldn't let Yukina's work go to waste!
As I got up to fill my bowl with the next soup in line the rest began eating and chatting about school or who would win in a fight. All except Hiei, who just sat there eating. I decided to just stand by the counter to eat, or drink, my meal. It was comforting to see how everyone interacted. By the time everyone had finished I had tried all five of the soups, deeming them all amazing. Again I thanked Yukina as I helped her clean.
"I'm glad you liked them, Miss Suteki." Her smile was so warm and welcoming it seemed unreal. After we finished we walked into the living room with the others.
#I think I'm going to go to bed. Thank you all so much for everything.# It seemed all too good to be true how they had taken me in so easily.
I heard "Goodnights" and "sleep wells" follow me up the stairs.
After a momentary lapse in memory of which door was mine, I peeked into a room. Relief filled me when I saw I was correct. I quickly stripped the kimono off and gently placed in on the dresser.
Sliding between the cool sheets felt like Heaven.
In a strange house filled with strange people, sleeping in a strange bed, I fell into a peaceful and dreamless sleep for the first time in my life.
Okay, so… How was it? We all finally know what Suteki looks like, and it seems she's making friends. I have to admit I almost made her have a shaved head, simply because I'm more for main characters that are unconventional. But then I had a conversation with myself and said to myself, "Amanda, you know that everyone wants a main character that at least isn't so strange looking. Just throw some mats in her hair that can wash out, that way you're satisfied with your strange hair and the readers still have a relatively cute character." I feel like a lot happened in this chapter, but seeing as I made it considerably longer, I hope it doesn't still seem rushed. Alright, if you have time, give me some feedback so I can continue to provide you with something readable. Thank you all for your continuing support! See you next time!