Chapter 2
Meeting the Team
"HEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO! WAKE UP!" I groaned and sat up, and realized that I was looking right at the face of…
Yusuke Urameshi. So I did the thing that any sane girl looking at the anime face of the famed Spirit Detective would do. I screamed… loud. And slapped him…hard.
"OW! What the heck was that for!?"
"But you're…and I'm…and this is…and I'm in…and where…WHERE'S NATALIE!" I stuttered, finally getting my message across.
"Your friend is right here. She hasn't woken up yet." I looked around, trying to find the owner of that voice, finally seeing a baby Koenma standing by Natalie. But she looked different. She was…ANIME! I looked at my hands. I was anime, too!
"Oh…wow…ok then." I said slowly, my voice barely audible.
"Yes, you're in a different universe now. I understand that this is a bit of a shock to you but my advice is that you simply accept it." Koenma was now standing next to me. "This is not a dream or an illusion or anything else. It's real."
My mind finally caught up with reality…well, this reality anyway. I really was in the universe of Yu Yu Hakusho. "Oh boy." I then realized that I was still sitting down and moved to a standing position. My head ached horribly and I began massaging it and groaning.
"Here, this will help your headache," said a familiar voice. When I turned my head I was staring into emerald eyes, and none other than Shuichi Minamino aka Kurama was holding out a cup of foul-smelling liquid.
"Oh my g…you're Ku…ah man." My headache had just doubled. I accepted the cup from him with a "thanks" and downed its horrible-tasting contents without even a grimace. Immediately my headache eased up until I felt back to normal.
"Okay, um, does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?"
Koenma nodded in Natalie's direction. "We should wait until your friend is awake to hear it." Meanwhile Kuwabara was shaking her and yelling in her ear. I sighed.
"Ughh. Kuwabara, get off of her and let me take care of it."
"How'd you know my name?" I ignored him and walked over to Natalie. I leaned in close to her ear and yelled-
"NATALIE HELP! YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND IS HITTING ON ME AGAIN!"
She immediately sat up and yelled "PETER, I'm gonna RIP YOUR FRICKIN' HANDS OFF-…..AAAAHHHHHH!" She had taken one look around and screamed bloody murder.
___________
A few minutes later, Natalie was staring wide-eyed at me. I had just told her what had happened and she was getting ready to burst. I could tell. I covered my ears and warned the others to do the same. Then the ear-splitting screeches began.
"Are you alright?" asked a sincerely concerned Kurama.
"ARE YOU KIDDING!? I'M IN A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE THAT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST, WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO START OUR FIRST YEAR AT COLLEGE, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AND I'M FREAKING PMS-ING SO IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN IT WOULD USUALLY BE!"
"Okay, WAY too much information!" yelled Yusuke while Kuwabara gagged and Kurama sweat-dropped. Hiei, who I noticed for the first time, simply glared at Natalie and said "Shut up baka onna." Just like-
"My vision." I whispered.
Natalie immediately stopped screaming and said "What?" completely forgetting everything else.
"That's what I saw," I said so that only she could hear.
"What do you mean that's what you saw?" asked Hiei, scowling.
"Oh, right, you have super-hearing." He raised an eyebrow.
"It's nothing, Hiei," I said. His scowl deepened.
"How do you know our names?" asked Kurama.
"Because-" time for some quick thinking "-back in our universe, we have televisions like yours, and you and your adventures are a show on it. Apparently television shows are just a way to see into other dimensions like this one." I was lying through my teeth, but the more I thought about it, the more believable it seemed. Honestly, right now, I'd believe it if the Grinch came in and told me that my mother was the Tooth Fairy.
"So wait," said Yusuke hesitantly, "exactly how much do you know about us?"
"Pretty much everything."
"Tell us."
"Okay, we'll start with you. Yusuke Urameshi. Number one punk at Sarayashiki High. You died trying to save a little kid's life, but your death turned out to be pointless, since the kid wasn't going to get hurt anyway."
"Haha. You never told us that Urameshi," mocked Kuwabara.
"A lot of stuff happened while you were a ghost, but we don't really care about that. Point is you came back to life. You then - rather unwillingly - became a Spirit Detective and your first real case involved Hiei, Kurama, and a demon named Goki. But more about that later. You then became Genkai's student after solving the Rando case out of sheer luck."
"Hey! There was plenty of skill in that mission."
"Whatever. You specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your favored ki weapons are the Spirit Gun and Spirit Shotgun. Your mother's name is Atsuko and is constantly drinking. Your girlfriend's name is Keiko Yukimura, who you've been friends with since childhood. You're extremely arrogant and dimwitted, and Master Genkai calls you her favorite dimwit."
"Hey! I resent that!"
"Do I look I care? Deal with it. Oh, and you're a half-demon and have something of a counterpart named Puu. That's about it for you."
I turned to Kuwabara. "Kazuma Kuwabara. Second toughest guy at Sarayashiki High next to Yusuke. Previously rivals but now best friends. You have an extraordinarily strong sixth sense and control of spirit energy, even though you're fully human. You're kind and loyal and trustworthy and will always fight to the finish."
"Gee, thanks." (Blush)
"You're also a total idiot."
"…Knew there had to be a catch." Yusuke was laughing his head off.
"Your favored weapon is your Spirit Sword and you also specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your current…relationship…is with Yukina-" I glanced at Hiei, who glared at me murderously "-your sister's name is Shizuru, and you have a soft spot for kittens."
I turned to Kurama, who seemed fascinated by how much I knew. "Now it gets interesting. Shuichi Minamino aka Youko Kurama. Spirit fox demon and previous Makai thief, or rather, the King of the Thieves. Highly respected and feared because you stole from and killed countless innocents.-" Emerald eyes flashed amber. "-When mortally wounded by a bounty hunter, Youko transformed into soul form and inhabited an unborn human embryo, and began a new life as the human Shuichi Minamino. You had every intention of leaving as soon as you were old enough (as Shuichi, obviously, since Youko is centuries old), but soon became too attached to your human mother, Shiori. You wanted to be the best son you could be in return for deceiving her. You became top in all of your classes. You are a true gentleman and pure at heart. You only stole from the Demon Treasury so that you could save your mother's life, even at the high price of losing your own.
"Now, as for being a part of the team, your favored weapon is your Rose Whip, which you hide as a seed in your hair, along with many other seeds for many different uses. You're a man who knows his botany; both of the human world and demon world. You hardly ever use your fists, but will when it is necessary. Youko is something of a dual personality for you: his spirit resides within your mind. You constantly hear him speaking to you in your head, voicing his own opinion, which often disagrees with yours. He is your true and most powerful form. All right, that's enough about you I think."
I turned at last to Hiei. "Hiei Jaganshi. Final member of the group. Like Youko, you're highly respected and feared in the Makai for stealing and killing hundreds, both innocent and not so much. You are the owner of the Jagan Eye aka the Evil Eye, which is hidden underneath your headband. You are also the master of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame aka the Black Dragon, which takes the form of a tattoo under the wrappings on your arms when not in use. You are a master swordsman and your favored weapon is your katana, which you keep on your person at all times. You have god-like speed that is as yet unmatched. Yusuke is one of the only ones to ever defeat you in combat. You were previously a demon with evil intention, but once you joined the team, your intentions became much nobler, even if you didn't show it. Despite this, you still deal with a sort of bloodlust. Your past is troubling. You are a Forbidden Child, born among a society of entirely female Ice Maidens who reproduce asexually. Your mother broke this tradition and mated with a fire demon, which is why you are a half-ice half-fire demon, a hybrid. You were cast away violently and nearly killed by the Ice Maidens when you were very young. You are therefore rather antisocial and have the whole M3D's thing goin' on."
"M3D's?" asked Yusuke and Kuwabara.
"Yeah. Mysterious, dark, dangerous, and deadly. It's this personality that makes him everyone's favorite character. Seriously, I've asked a lot of people and 95% of them said that you're their favorite character."
"Are you kidding me?! But I'm the main character," yelled Yusuke.
"Don't get me wrong, you have a pretty big fan club, too. In fact, you all do. Hiei's and Kurama's are just the biggest. I mean, Kurama's a gentleman, always calm, cool, and collected, never at a loss for words, a famed Makai thief, powerful, charming and extremely attractive!"
"Amen to that!" piped in Natalie, who had been paying close attention, trying to learn as much as she could about their current situation. Kurama was blushing and ducking his head.
"I mean, look at him! That's completely adorable! And Hiei, as I mentioned with the M3D's, has an attitude that has made just about every human girl (and some boys) from my universe fall for him."
"What about you?" asked Yusuke slyly with cat whiskers and paws.
"As a character; guilty. As a real person; don't know yet, considering I just actually met him." I smiled at Hiei, who 'hn'ed and looked away.
"Oh, by the way," I said to Natalie, "that's like his favorite word."
"What is"
"Hn."
"Hn." -Hiei
"See what I mean?"
"So who do you think is the hottest?" inquired Natalie.
"In order, I'd have to say Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke-" I turned to Kuwabara "-okay, you're not even on the list." At this, Kuwabara threw a fit, Yusuke doubled over in laughter, Kurama hid a smile behind a hand and coughed to cover a chuckle, and Hiei smirked.
"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together, "back to the missions. The first case where Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei met was when the latter two and a demon named Goki stole three demon treasures: Goki, the Rapacious Orb; Hiei, the Conjuring Blade; and Kurama, the Mirror of Darkness aka the Forlorn Hope. Goki used the Rapacious Orb to suck out human souls and eat them, until Yusuke defeated him with his enhanced Rei gun. Kurama used the Forlorn Hope to save his mother's life and would have lost his own had Yusuke not given some of his own life at the last second. Hiei used the Conjuring Blade and planned on creating a demon army with it. But he started with trying to turn Keiko into his first minion and Yusuke used his Rei gun to defeat him, reflecting off of the Forlorn Hope. Again, he won out of pure luck and on-the-spot thinking. And so, Yusuke's first case was solved, even though Koenma did get a good spanking."
Koenma sweat-dropped and Yusuke and Kuwabara fell to the floor, laughing hysterically.
"Yusuke's second mission was against Rando, who was planning on killing and stealing the techniques of Master Genkai after he won the contest for who would be her successor. Needless to say, Yusuke won and became the successor – again, rather unwillingly. Kuwabara had also participated and ranked third in the competition, also discovering his Spirit Sword. Again, Yusuke won by luck, but much more skill was involved this time. The next mission, your first as a team – although Kurama and Hiei didn't have much of a choice, as it was join the team or go to 'jail' – was against the Four Beasts; Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu, and Suzaku, who was the leader and the most powerful. He had a whistle that controlled demon roundworms that took over evilly influenced human bodies. Suzaku sent these roundworm-infected 'zombies' after Keiko, and this gave Yusuke the motive and power to defeat him. In the next mission, Yukina-" I glanced at Hiei again, who gave me his famous death glare, which I returned "-was kidnapped, her tear gems being used for profit. She was strong, though. No matter how much they tortured the poor ice youkai, she wouldn't cry for them. Until they began harming others. Once she was rescued, she wouldn't even let Hiei kill the man who had kidnapped and hurt her. Her heart is as pure as pure can be. As pure as ice. Unfortunately for all of you, you only thought that you had defeated the Toguro Brothers. So then you went on to the Dark Tournament, where we first actually meet the one and only Youko Kurama and witness the effects of Hiei's Black Dragon. As well as discover Kuwabara's ability to twist and bend his Spirit sword and Yusuke's five finger Rei gun limit. We also lost and regained Master Genkai. I could go into detail about the tournament, but I'm tired of talking. So now you talk. Why are we here? How did we get here? What are we going to do while we're here? And how do we get back?"
Awkward silence.
"How on earth do you know so much about us?" said Yusuke, more than a little unnerved.
"Because I've seen it all. Not to mention read it."
"Read it?"
"Yeah. You're also one of the world's most popular manga series, too."
"Are you serious! SWEET!"
"Yusuke, will you please and answer my questions?" I was getting REALLY impatient.
"Um…right. Well, I don't actually know." I fell over anime-style.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?"
"Because I haven't told them yet." I yelped in surprise as Koenma popped up right behind me. "I wanted you all to hear this at once." Everyone was listening intently. "Does anyone here know of the White Phoenix?"
"That name rings a bell, but I'm not sure where I've heard it before." That was Kurama. Everyone else stayed quiet, anticipating what Koenma would say next.
"You know how Hiei's Black Dragon is a powerful entity from the fires of Hell? Well, the White Phoenix is a similar entity of unknown origin. It's most ancient powers are also unknown. We do know a few things about it, though. First of all, it was and possibly still is the mate of the Black Dragon.-" eyebrows raised, including Hiei's. "-They were separated by the splitting of the worlds, before any other demons or humans existed. Faced with this … complication, they searched for a host-" he looked over at Hiei "-a master that would shelter and nourish them."
"That's not possible," protested Hiei, "when I mastered the Black Dragon, it tried to break free of my control."
"It was testing your strength. Has it put up a fight since then, using all of its abilities?"
"No."
"And whenever you use it you feel a serious lack of energy, correct?"
"Hn."
"Not that this isn't interesting, but what does any of this have to do with me and Natalie?" I demanded.
"I was getting to that," Koenma continued. "The White Phoenix is rumored to have been trapped in a tear in the time stream (A/N: try saying THAT ten times fast) and was therefore caught in between our universe and time period and yours. It finally broke free, but was forced to dwell in your realm. And here's where you come in. One of you two is the reincarnation of its original host. And when said person turns 19, she will succumb to the influence and power of the White Phoenix."
"You make it sound like it will be mastering me," I said.
"What do you mean you?"
"Natalie's already turned 19 and nothing weird happened then, right Nat?"
"Nope, nothin' 'cept my drunk ex-boyfriend trying to make a move on you."
"I will always savor the look on his face when I hit him where it hurts."
"And with a 15 lbs bowling ball, no less."
Looks of pain and sympathy crossed every male face in the room as they visualized this, except for Hiei, who was just staring at me. Wait, why was he looking at me like that, like he was…considering something.
"What are some other traits of the White Phoenix?"I asked. Immediately, in my mind I had a picture of Hiei coming up behind me and pressing his katana to my throat. So that was what he'd been considering. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiei disappear. Instantly, I threw my arms over my shoulders, grabbed a mass of cloth, and, with a burst of energy and strength, threw it over my head, sending Hiei flying across the room. He landed gracefully on one knee, glaring at me.
"Sheesh, you're heavy for a small guy," I commented. My shoulder had popped under the strain. Thank goodness it had popped back in.
"Um, what just happened?" asked Kuwabara stupidly.
"My guess is that Hiei wanted to test my speed and strength, am I right?"
"Hn."
"Woah. Sarah, I never knew you could do that!" Natalie exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"So that's your name!" Yusuke yelled.
"Yeah, whatever. So-"
"But how were you able to do that to Hiei?" questioned Kuwabara.
"Because I saw it coming."
"How? He was moving so fast, there's no way you could've seem 'im."
"No, but I know him. As soon as he 'disappeared', I took a guess about what was happening, and reacted. Luckily, my guess was right, so I didn't make a fool of myself." I smiled my most winning smile at Hiei, but he was looking away, purposefully ignoring me. "Now, back to my question. Koenma?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Some other powers of the White Phoenix include flight and just about any trick using light, including blinding the opponent – whether making it blindingly bright or pitch black – also creating illusions, invisibility, and eventually even turning day into night and vice versa. It is also rumored that it can move faster than the speed of light and has some control over the sky weather."
"Don't you just mean the weather?"
"No, Yusuke, because it cannot control earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the like.
"Sounds cool," I stated.
"One more thing," Koenma continued, "it also has the ability to witness and experience any given point on the time stream."
This I had not expected. Could it be that my…special difference…could only be the influence of the White Phoenix? But wait –
"Is it possible that one of the Phoenix's traits may have … surfaced … before I turn 19?"
"No," Koenma answered simply, "The Phoenix's power will not awaken until you turn 19, because that is how old the original host was when she mastered it. Why do you ask?"
"…No reason, just curious." A look at Natalie told me that she knew exactly what I was talking about. Something tickled in the back of my mind. I glared at Hiei. "Don't even bother, I have a block up." Everyone else looked at me, because to them I had just said something completely out of the blue.
"By the way," I turned back to Natalie, "Kurama and Hiei are telepaths. Hiei just tried to get into my mind, so I told him not to bother. I put a block up a long time ago." Everyone nodded their understanding.
"Wait, why would you need to create a block?" Kurama inquired.
"Because I wanted to and I could," I stated simply, shrugging.
"How did you know how to?"
"I didn't, but I tried it, and it worked. Okay. Now we know why we're here, so what are we going to do while we're here?"
"Well, as you may know, the power of the Phoenix is highly coveted, and there are those who would try and steal it from you."
"And how would they do that?"
"By killing you."
"Figures," I said.
"So it goes without saying that we are going to be training you…both of you."
"Wait," interrupted Natalie, a little startled, "why do I need to train!?"
"Because there was a considerable amount of unidentifiable energy in both of you, which is why we were unsure of which one of you contained the White Phoenix. Leading to my next point-"
"KOENMA-SAMA!" yelled a familiar voice as a pink and blue blur raced by. "I found out what you wanted about the other one. Apparently she's-"