Chapter 6

Bonding and Fighting

As I walked back through the hallway and down to the kitchen, I wondered where Hiei had gone. My thoughts were answered as I walked past a window. Hiei was outside, practicing his swordsmanship in slow motion (well, slow for him. My eye could just barely follow each movement). I watched in awe as he moved gracefully and flawlessly through each form, stance, dodge, block, and strike, perfectly in tune with his imaginary opponent. I had always wanted to be able to move like that, with the grace and confidence of an expert.

I stood there, watching, wishing that were me – slipping and sliding through each step, jumping and moving with such strength, speed, and power – for several minutes. Finally, he stopped, and decided to acknowledge my presence. He looked at me with that oh-so-famous glare of his, while I smiled and waved. The window was open, so I said "Please continue, I'm just watching." He smirked and picked up his speed, so that I could no longer follow his movements. "Hey! No fair!" I yelled, but laughed all the same. Suddenly, I was staring right into crimson eyes, as he was right in front of me. I stopped laughing, but scowled when he smirked again at the look of panic on my face. Then, he was fifty feet away, practicing again. I shook my head at him (which he ignored), then continued on my trek to the kitchen. However, I soon got lost in the numerous hallways. So I backtracked. Soon I was back at that same window and kept walking until I was back at my room again. Turning, I took a deep breath and spotted the route that the others had taken earlier; the route I had just returned from.

So I started walking, and, sure enough, I saw that same window approaching. Before I could pass it, though, Hiei decided to hop through the window and stand in front of me.

"You're lost," he stated simply.

"Hm?"

"This is the third time you've passed this window. You're lost," he repeated.

"Oh…yeah, well it's a pretty easy thing to happen when you're in a place this huge," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

He closed his eyes and shook his head at me (like I did earlier), smirking. "Hn. Pathetic onna."

I sighed. "Yes, yes, we all know I'm pathetic. Now will you please shut up and show me where the kitchen is. And STOP CALLING ME 'GIRL'! My name is SARAH!"

"Hn. Whatever onna." And with that he started walking down the hallway, and I followed, growling.

"Bajito."

He stopped and turned to face me. "What language is that?"

"What? Bajito?"

"What else, baka onna?"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! And it's Spanish."

"Hn. What does it mean?"

"Shorty." I scurried past him, hearing Kurama and Natalie talking up ahead. I didn't need to look at him to know that he was giving me his deathglare. "By the way, that reminds me, how can I understand you guys? Don't you speak Japanese?"

"Yes. Koenma gave us Language Pills before he brought you here."

"Gotcha," I said, nodding my understanding. I entered the kitchen, and here's what I saw…

Kurama with his arms around Natalie, guiding her hands with his own as he taught her how to crack an egg without getting the shell bits in mix that was already in the bowl. They were both somewhat blushing and Kurama was saying things like "That's it. Just do it gently." I leaned against the doorway, making room for Hiei to see. His face had a disgusted look on it.

"Glad to see you two are having fun," I said with a small laugh. They instantly broke apart and sweat-dropped, grinning foolishly and scratching the back of their heads. I simply laughed, holding my stomach. "HAHAHA! You should've seen the look on your faces!" I then realized that Kurama's shirt front was wet. My eyebrows raised and the two looked where I was looking, blushing so that their faces were the color of Kurama's hair. I continued to laugh.

"Oh yeah? Well…what about you and…and Hiei!" taunted Natalie lamely, seeing Hiei behind me.

"Actually, we just got done making fun of each other. And by the way, Nat…I definitely approve. You have good taste…both of you."

"…" I was laughing again.

"Sarah, I'm afraid you've misunderstood," Kurama tried to explain, "you see-"

(Flashback – Natalie's POV)

After talking to Sarah, I followed Kurama and the two fighting boys down to the kitchen. Gosh he has beautiful hair…and eyes, and muscles. Okay, he's just plain GORGEOUS! I thought, as I wondered what it would be like to have him holding me. Yes, I'm a perv. Ya know what? WHO CARES! HE'S HOTT! I remembered what they'd said about him having a bunch of seeds and his Rose Whip hidden in his hair. I also remembered what they'd said about Youko. The idea of a powerful silver fox demon thief in this beautiful and kind gentleman was…interesting. But, as I'd told Sarah, the idea intrigued me.

As I finally snuck past Yusuke and Kuwabara, I approached Kurama. "Hey."

"Hello, Natalie."

"Wudja like some help with breakfast?"

"You know how to cook?"

"No, but I'd like to learn."

He chuckled. Man, that laugh's sexy!

"Of course. I'd be happy to teach you."

I smiled and he smiled back. Once in the kitchen, he took out a large mixing bowl and started taking out different ingredients. Some I recognized as flour and sugar, cinnamon and eggs, but the others I didn't recognize.

"What're we making?"

"Pancakes. Now, I'm assuming you know how to measure."

"Yeah. That much I can do."

So, once he had told me what each ingredient was and how much of each thing was needed, I got to work: measuring out each ingredient, flattening the top with a butter knife, and dumping or pouring it into the large bowl. However, once I got to the eggs, I had a problem. I had always thought that cracking an egg would be easy, but had never done so before. As I gripped the egg in my hand and cracked it on the rim of the bowl, I realized that I had cracked it too hard, and the yolk and shell bits went flying into and around the bowl. I was humiliated when Kurama started laughing. I glared at him, but he was still laughing. Damn! Why does he have to be so sexy? Realizing that I still had egg yolk on my hand, I got an idea.

"You know, I'd stop laughing if I were you. Because I sure wouldn't want a hand full of egg yolk in my hair." I grinned maliciously as he immediately stopped laughing and looked at me with a serious expression. "Oooooo, I have a weapon." My grin widened as I took a step closer to him and he took a step back.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" he asked.

I just grinned mischievously at him, before running toward him. Obviously, he dodged easily and grabbed my wrist.

"Ah, ah, ah." He said, wagging his finger at me. And with that, he guided me over to the sink (still keeping tight – but not too tight – hold of my arm), turned on the warm faucet, and stuck my hand underneath the water. Grabbing a sponge, he started scrubbing the yolk off of my hand.

"Ummm…ya know…I can wash my hands myself, thank you very much," I begged, completely mortified.

"And risk you attacking me again? Nice try." He was still smiling. I couldn't stop staring at his gorgeous face out of the corner of my eye. I hardly even noticed when he turned off the faucet and gave me a paper towel, finally letting go of my hand. I got another idea.

Before he had a chance to do anything, I reached out and dried my hand on his shirt front (maybe admiring his chest and abs muscles meanwhile). I smiled and said "I can also dry my hands by myself, thank you very much." I giggled. To my surprise, he blushed and started to laugh too. After I had really dried my hand off using the paper towel, he grabbed another egg (after scooping out the shell and yolk of the previous one) and gave it to me. I took it and was about to try again when he caught my hand and said-

"Woah. You're still using too much energy. Here-" he covered my hands with his (meaning he was practically embracing me and I could fell his warm breath and body heat) and guided my hands, breaking the egg perfectly and cleanly. Then-

(End flashback – Sarah's POV)

"And that's when you came in," Kurama finished. By now, both of my eyebrows were raised and I was looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You do realize how much flirting was done in that story, right?" I taunted, loving every minute of this. Again, their faces were the color of the kitsune's hair.

"Umm, Sarah, can I talk to you for a sec?" Natalie demanded, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the hallway. Once we were far enough away that even the two demons couldn't hear us, she rounded on me. "I thought you were trying to help!"

"I am!" I protested. "Look, I know him a lot better than you do, so will you trust me!? You have to get him a little flustered at first, and then you let things happen naturally. Okay? I know what I'm doing."

"Well, okay. But I hope you're right."

"You know I am. Besides, didn't you see the way he blushed when I suggested you two as a couple?"

"No, not really. Considering that I was trying to think of the best way to get you to stop talking."

"Haha. Well, he was. He's interested. Just keep being your loud, annoying self, and he'll be yours in no time."

She punched me in the arm. "Hey, who you calling loud and annoying? You're way louder and way more annoying than I am."

"That may be, but I'm not the one crushing on everyone's favorite kitsune. Now get back in there and pretend to be cute." I laughed again when she elbowed me. Then, I followed her back into the kitchen, passing Hiei, who was talking to Kurama.

"Hey, um, do you have any cereal, or something?" I asked.

"We're making pancakes, though," said Kurama, a little confused.

"Yes, but you're putting eggs in them, and I'm fatally allergic to eggs. Which reminds me, don't touch me until you're done eating and wash your hands."

"Don't worry, she says this at everyone's house," Natalie said, arms folded.

"Oh!" said Kurama, looking extremely guilty. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot!"

"Hey, hakuna matata. This happens all the time," I said, trying to make him not feel guilty.

"Still…anyway, we do have some cereal, but it's not a huge selection. They should be in that cupboard there," the redhead said, pointing to a cupboard about a foot above my head. I nodded my thanks and opened the door.

"NO WAY!" I said, pulling out a box. "I don't believe it! You guys have my favorite cereal!" I turned the box around so the others could see.

"Special K!"

"Actually, that was Koenma's idea. I believe that it was on the list of your favorite foods," explained Kurama.

"AWESOME! THANKS, KOENMA!" I shouted to the ceiling.

Kurama and Natalie started laughing, and Hiei just stood there with an eyebrow raised. I sighed.

"Oh, whatever. Got a bowl I can use?"

"Here," said Kurama, giving me a small bowl while smiling. "I think we also have some milk-substitute in the refrigerator."

"SWEET!" I squealed, opening the fridge and taking out the carton. "Should I thank Koenma again?"

"Hmhm. Yes." The redhead chuckled.

As I took in a breath to do so, someone's hand covered my mouth. "You're too loud, even for a ningen," hissed Hiei from behind me. He took his hand from my face (but only after I threatened to lick it), and went over to stand by Kurama again, who had finished the pancake batter and was pouring it on the frying pan.

"So, where are the doofuses?" I asked, munching into my breakfast.

"They're in the other room, playing video games," said Kurama.

"And by other room, you would mean…?" I asked, referring to the hundreds of "other rooms" there were.

"The one right through there," he replied, pointing to a half-open door on the other side of the room. I then wondered how I hadn't heard their yelling and gloating and complaining before.

"HAHA! Take THAT you purple-faced FREAK!" Yusuke was yelling at Kuwabara's character.

I chuckled at them while I finished my cereal and started cleaning my bowl and spoon in the sink.

"Duck in cover," said Kurama to me and Natalie, right before yelling "Breakfast is ready!"

"FOOOOOOOD!" yelled the two boys in the other room for the second time that morning. A stampede followed, ending with me and Natalie sprawled out on the ground, face-down, twitching.

"Oops, sorry guys," said Kuwabara, mouth full of pancakes and syrup.

"Ehhhh, no prob Kuwa," I said, standing up and offering a hand to Natalie. "Hey, is it okay if I take a walk while you guys eat?"

Kurama gave Hiei a look, which he returned. "I suppose so," said the kitsune, nodding.

"Thanks much. Wanna come Natalie?"

"I haven't eaten yet."

"Oh, right. Well, see ya in a few." I waved as I headed for the door. Thankfully, I could see the exit, so I didn't get lost. As I walked outside, I was thankful that the sun wasn't quite up yet, and reminded myself to make sure that I was back before I had a chance to get sun-poisoning. I started back to that little stream I had visited last night. In the light of the sunrise, it was an incredibly peaceful scene. I sat right at the water's edge and watched the crayfish squirm around in the sand. My mind started to drift and I found myself breathing rhythmically, meditating. This was the perfect spot to do just that, and I slowly cleared my mind, silencing all thoughts and simply taking in the nature around me. Slowly, I began to feel the ki, or energy, of everything around me. I felt each tree, blade of grass, leaf, insect, bird, fish, and…

Hiei?

I opened my eyes and looked up to see a black blur just as Hiei jumped out of sight.

"Nice try, Hiei, my senses aren't that weak." He appeared in front of me, hands in pockets as always. "Let me guess, Kurama has you keeping an eye on me just in case there are other not-so-friendly demons around." He nodded. "Pft. Figures. Not that I don't appreciate it." I closed my eyes again, and restarted my breathing exercises. Sensing that he hadn't left yet, I opened one eye to see him still standing in front of me.

"Umm, is there something I can do for you?" I asked politely. Then, he did the strangest thing. He came over and sat down in front of me. Then, he just sat there, staring at me. "Umm, is something wrong?"

"Hn." With that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate as well.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" I copied his actions. Soon, I was in that peaceful state again, taking in the energies around me. Finding Hiei's, I studied it. It was possibly the most massive amount of energy I had ever felt. How did he keep all that inside his body? I wondered. Everything else was just a pebble to Hiei's mountain of energy. We just sat like that for a long time, but when I felt like I was going to slip into sleep, I decided to stand up. I was really sorry that I had to end that moment though. It felt really nice; being in such a beautiful place with Hiei there, just sitting and meditating.

As I turned to head back to the temple (the sun was almost above the horizon), I turned to Hiei and smiled. "Thanks for meditating with me."

He smirked. "It may be the only time you're quiet."

I laughed. "Good point." He seemed surprised that I hadn't taken offense. "I talk a lot. It's nothing to be ashamed of." I shrugged. He 'hn'ed again and walked behind me as I started back through the trees. Finally, we reached the kitchen again to find the other four cleaning up the table, almost done. Well, Kurama and Natalie were cleaning up. Yusuke and Kuwabara were just standing there discussing something.

"So…" I said, getting their attention. "What do we do today?"

"First things first," began Kurama "you need to go shopping for some new clothes. You very well can't wear the same thing every day."

"Hiei does," I pointed out.

"Hiei's different," retorted the redhead.

"Yeah, that's a good point," I teased, elbowing the short black-haired demon.

"Do that again and you won't get a chance to train," he said.

"Hey! That reminds me," Natalie said. "Who's gonna teach us?"

"I'm guessing that Kurama will be Natalie's teacher since her training involves whips." He nodded. "And I'm guessing that Hiei will be my teacher since my training involves a katana."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna be teaching you the hand-to-hand combat," said Yusuke, pointing to himself.

"I'm lookin' forward to it."

"So," said Natalie, "when do we get our stuff?"

"As soon as you're ready," said Kurama. "We already have a portal that will take you there." Natalie's face turned slightly green at this remark.

"Don't worry, Natalie, it isn't nearly as bad the second time," comforted Kurama.

"And if need be, he can always catch you again," I suggested. Kurama smiled and nodded. I sent Natalie a look. She sent me one back that said "Yay!"

"So, if I can just get some sort of wide-brimmed hat, we can go," I said.

"Ta-da!" said Yusuke and Kuwabara, presenting the exact hat that I usually wear.

"Let me guess, Koenma?" I asked, accepting the hat and putting it on.

"Yep!" They said cheerfully.

"Remind me to thank him loudly the next time I see him."

"Will do," said Natalie.

"All right. If that is all, let's go," said Kurama, holding out some money to me and Natalie. "This should be enough. Have fun."

"Wait," protested Natalie, "Aren't you guys coming with us?"

"Yeah, and where's Yukina?" I asked, noticing for the first time that the little ice-youkai wasn't anywhere around.

"She's at Koenma's," said Yusuke, "and we were gonna come, but Koenma called us a while ago for a meeting."

"Oh. Well…okay. So, we're on our own?"

They nodded.

"Sweeeeeeet!" squealed Natalie.

"So, we're shopping in Japan unsupervised?" I asked.

Again, they nodded.

"This should be very interesting." We followed the guys out of the temple and immediately found the shimmering portal. The guys went through first, and then I jumped through and again found myself hurtling forward at full speed. My stomach began churning again, but as Kurama said, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been that first time. Once again, as I fell back into the real world, I landed on my butt (but thankfully there was grass instead of a stone step this time) and once again, I stood up, rubbing my butt, ignoring the snickers of the boys and Hiei's smirk.

"Forgot to ask someone to catch me," I grumbled. Kurama gave me an apologetic look and gave me a hand. Then, he went over to the exact spot I had fallen out of and caught Natalie just as she fell through.

"Thanks, Kurama," she said sweetly with a totally winning smile. Kurama blushed slightly as he set her down.

"Yeah, thanks Kurama," I thought sarcastically. Noticing the sun was out, I checked to make sure that I was wearing long-sleeves and –pants and that my hat was in place. After that, I took in my surroundings, and one word came to mind.

"WOAH!"

"This place is AWESOME!" agreed Natalie.

"Come on, Nat! See you guys later!" And with that, I grabbed Natalie by the arm (or rather tried to, but found out that she was already running toward the huge mall) and ran inside.

A few moments later, the reikai tantei popped into Koenma's office, waiting for the toddler to give them news.

"Ahh! I'm glad you were able to come so soon," came the proper, kiddish voice.

"Yeah, we're here, so tell us what you were so worried about!" Yusuke demanded.

"Yes, well, soon after you left, George (the blue ogre) came to me with some very…interesting news. I can't believe we overlooked it before. I thought that I had gotten everything about Sarah that we needed to know. I just-"

"Get to the point," said Hiei, impatient as always.

"It seems that Sarah isn't as innocent as we thought."

"What do you mean?" asked Yusuke, baffled.

"It turns out…

"SHE'S KILLED A MAN!"