Chapter 3

Who ARE These Girls!

"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-" suddenly she noticed us and smiled. "Oh, hello, my name is-"

"Botan, the head Ferry Girl, also known as the Grimm Reaper," I finished for her. "I'm Sarah, this is Natalie. We're pretty sure that I am the White Phoenix. What were you saying?"

"Oh, nice to meet you. Well, if you're the White Phoenix, then you-" she turned to Natalie "-are the healer."

"Are you sure, Botan?"

"Hai, Koenma-Sama. I've traced her power back as far as I can, and every one of her ancestors had healing abilities, even if they never used them."

"Wait, so I'm a healer?" asked Natalie, getting excited.

"That's right," replied Botan cheerfully.

"So…I don't have to learn how to fight, right?"

Koenma jumped in. "You still need to learn how to defend yourself until someone who can help you shows up. Which is what I was just getting to. You both need to learn some type of combat. You may choose what type that is, though. Natalie?"

"I don't want to fight at all. But since I don't seem to have much of a choice in the matter, I want to learn whatever includes the least amount of bodily contact."

"That would include whips, throwing stars, and throwing knives," stated Kurama.

"Sounds good, I guess," Natalie shrugged. "What about you, Sarah?"

"I'd go for pretty much anything. But, if I had to choose, I'd like to try plain martial arts and dao swords. I know the basic punches, kicks, and blocks, along with a few combinations, but I'm not very good at them. And I don't know anything about how to use a sword."

"I don't think that we can teach you dao swords, but I'm sure that we can help you learn how to use a katana," Koenma suggested.

I shrugged. "Sounds cool. So, where are we staying and who's gonna teach us?"

"Well, Genkai's away on a mission, and she…said you could stay there until she gets back."

"She didn't really say that, did she?" I asked knowingly.

"Well, uh…no…but it makes me feel better to say so."

I snorted. "Well, as long as WE don't get in trouble, I'm all for it! I've always wanted to see Genkai's temple in person!"

"Genkai's temple?" asked Natalie.

"Yeah, you'll see. It's where Yusuke and Kuwabara trained. It's a huge temple with a surrounding wood, perfect for training under different conditions." Suddenly, a thought occurred to me and not a happy thought either. "Uh oh."

"What is it?" asked Kurama curiously.

"I just realized, we have a problem."

"What?"

"I can't train outside, because … I'm allergic to the sun."

"How can you be allergic to the sun?" asked Kuwabara disbelievingly.

"Easily, by being supersensitive to it. I'm one of those few who are so sensitive to it that if I get any sun at all, I get sun-poisoning, which takes the shape of a poison-ivy-like rash wherever I was exposed."

"She's had this problem for years, and she's not exaggerating," Natalie added, "I've seen it happen, and the rash ain't at all pretty."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, Sarah, you know I'm not insulting you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Ahem," Koenma interrupted, "if you two are done?" We nodded. "Good, and I already know about you're…predicament. Before we brought you here, we needed to make sure that we knew everything about you that we needed to know. Here are your profiles-" he threw us two huge stacks of paper which we caught (well, I caught mine – Natalie kind of jumped away from it) "-feel free to correct any mistakes, although there shouldn't be any."

I skimmed over mine and read it aloud first. "Sarah Nabors – 18 years old. Birthday – Dec 5. Height – 5'4". Weight…yeah right, like I'm gonna tell you my weight. Allergies – Nuts, dairy, and egg, sun-sensitive, some pollens. Asthmatic. Pianist, singer, reader, writer, composer, artist, actress, martial artist, dancer, designer, tutor, over-achiever, straight-A student, studying to be a marine-biologist, currently attending Humboldt's University in California, United States of America, ice-skater-"

"Sheesh, how much stuff do you do!?" interrupted Yusuke.

"A lot. Now shut it. Besides, that was the last thing anyway. On the rest of the page, it just lists my family members, closest friends, prime hangouts, and favorite foods. The rest of this stuff is my medical records, school assignments and grades, and just about every other record I've ever received in my life. Man, you guys really go all out. What does yours say Nat?"

"Natalie Slater – 19 years old. Birthday – August 7. Height – 4'11". Weight…pft, screw that! Allergies – none. Pianist, professional singer, dancer, B-average, currently attending Humboldt's University as well, very popular, professional actress. Prime hangouts, blah blah blah. Medical records, blah blah blah. School records…EW! BLAH, blah, blah…(fades out). Yep, that looks like everything." We looked at each other, grinned, and threw the stacks of paper back at Koenma, who caught them (or rather, they landed on top of him, making him fall off of the desk and burying him up to the top of his huge hat – or whatever that thing is – in his own documents). Yusuke and Kuwabara were once again rolling around on the floor, clutching their stomachs and laughing hysterically. Again, Kurama had to hide a chuckle and Hiei rolled his eyes and smirked. Natalie and I were laughing as well.

"Haha. Sorry, Koenma. We couldn't resist." I apologized.

Koenma growled as Botan pulled the papers off of him and began organizing them, also giggling. "Well, it looks as though we have two more misfits on our hands," she said dramatically.

"Hey! Who're you callin' misfits!?" said me and Natalie at the same time. Again, we looked at each other, then started laughing as well.

"Okay, we got really off-topic!" I said once the laughter had died down (me being the last to stop) "Now back to my sun problem."

Kurama stepped forward. "I believe that I can give you a cream that will help with that, as well as a temporary cure for your asthma and other allergies."

I just stared at him. He acted as though this were the simplest and most normal thing in the world. As though he'd done it a million times before. Millions of thoughts were running through my brain, screaming to be heard. 'Is he serious? No more outrageous sunburn? No more constant awareness of food? No more inhalers every time you laugh too hard or run? No more completely useless sun screens and wide-brimmed hats and veils? Can he seriously do that?' But all that came out was-

"Wh-what?"

"You heard him baka onna," snarled Hiei.

I ignored him and continued to stare at Kurama. "Can you seriously do that?"

He chuckled. "You know so much about me and yet do not believe that I can do this?"

"NO! No, it's just that…I mean you have to understand that…the prospect of…of being somewhat…normal…would come as a shock. I mean, I've gotten so used to having to deal with all this-"

He held up a hand to stop me. "I understand. And yes, as soon as we get to Genkai's temple, I can have these things ready for you within three days."

"Oh…my…GOSH!" I threw myself at him in a bear hug. "Thank you so much!"

This time he actually laughed. "You're welcome," he said while patting my head like I was a child. I drew myself away from him and breathed in and out slowly.

Koenma had opened a portal (to Genkai's most likely) and the others were stepping through. I noticed that Natalie was eyeing Kurama with interest. 'Hmmm' I thought as I entered the portal. 'This could be interesting.'

I had no idea.