Chapter 7
A Scary Story and Shopping "Fun."
As me and Natalie shopped (trying to use as little of the money Kurama had given us as possible), we wondered what the meeting had been about. But soon, we got bored on that subject and started talking about Natalie and Kurama.
"So I'm thinkin' that somehow we should get them all to play 'Truth or Dare' – although I have NO idea how we're going to do that – and I'll dare either you or Kurama to kiss the other."
"WHAT! But what if he doesn't want to do that?"
"Trust me, he does. I've seen the way he's been looking at you."
"OOH! Look over there!" said Nat, pointing at a store.
"Hey, that kind of looks like our Hot Topic back home."
"Let's check it out!" Hot Topic had always been one of our favorite stores.
We found several items that would be perfect for our long stay. Shirts, jeans, slacks, tennis shoes, hairbands, underwear, and more.
"Hey, they have mood rings! And look at the shapes!" I'd always loved mood rings, especially the ones that weren't just a regular band. The one that caught my eye was one that, instead of a band, the ring was just a long, thin dragon, whose mouth was connected to the tail with a small fake diamond. I grabbed it and we went up to the cashier and paid for our stuff. Just as we exited the store, Natalie got a glazed look in her eye. Then, she looked at me and said-
"The guys want to meet us outside right away."
"Then let's go. I think we have everything we need. And we still have plenty of money left." As we walked outside, we saw the four detectives standing in a circle, not looking very happy. "Hey guys!" I said, and then noticed their grim looks. "Who died?" I asked, not realizing just how appropriate the question was.
Yusuke came up to me and held a picture up to my face. I felt myself go pale as I recognized the man in it. "Oh no." My voice was barely above a whisper. Natalie came over and looked at the picture, and I watched as her face drained of color, too.
"To be exact, Jack Gordon (I totally made that name up) did," said the detective harshly. "He died about eight months ago in Baltimore, Maryland. They said that he was clearly murdered, for his body was horribly mutilated and his face held a look of absolute horror. Do you recognize this man?" He shoved the picture into my face, literally.
I looked down, closing my eyes, and nodded.
"Do you know how he died?"
I nodded again.
"Do you know who murdered him?"
"HEY!" That was Natalie. I looked up and saw her face become consumed with rage. "Don't you DARE treat her like that! You act as though she's a common criminal when she saved my life that night. You should be asha-"
"I killed him," I interrupted. "It was an accident. I never meant to kill him, but he made me mad."
"What did he do?" asked Hiei.
"He was…threatening Natalie…as she came home from her day-job. I had a … a vision, and I saw him … hurting Natalie."
"What was he going to do to her?" asked Kuwabara.
"He…he was going to…to…" I couldn't say it.
"He was going to rape and beat me to death." Natalie came to my rescue once again.
"I couldn't let that happen, and once I got down there, he was already cornering her. I got mad, and I killed him. That was the same night that I got this." I pulled up my sleeve and showed my right arm to the boys, giving them a clear view of the long and ugly scar on the skin on the forearm just above the elbow. I heard several gasps and one "Shee-" from Kuwabara. It had been a deep cut, and the scar was purple and red, still fairly fresh since it had reopened several times after it had scabbed over.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you last night." My voice was soft again.
"The last thing that you want to do is make her that angry," said Natalie. "That was probably the only time I'd ever seen her that way."
We stood in silence for several awkward minutes. Natalie was comforting me, and I was still looking at the ground. I chanced look at the four, and saw that they were all looking at me, trying to decide what they should do about this. He hadn't been an innocent man, but the fact stood that I had killed him.
"There's just one thing you guys should know," Natalie said, breaking away from me. "Ever since then, Sarah has never forgiven herself for that, even though everyone keeps telling her that it wasn't her fault. She has nightmares about it sometimes, even today, and she refuses to listen to anyone who tells her to move on. In other words, she feels guilty and probably always will. So you have no right to yell at her or think any different of her. And if you do, then you're even more heartless than Jack Gordon."
The silence this time seemed even deeper than the previous one.
"Well…" I started in a still soft voice, trying to break the silence "…I think that we have everything that we need. Here's the extra." I handed the money to Kurama.
"This is only a little less than half of what I gave you," he commented after counting the coins.
"I know, we tried to keep it cheap."
Silence.
"Look," started Yusuke "the main thing we were worried about was that we were dealing with a … well, someone who didn't mind killing. That clearly isn't the case, so … I say we just forget this ever happened. I'll explain to Koenma, but I think that you guys should go ahead and head back to the temple."
I looked at each of them as they nodded their agreement, then smiled weakly. "Thank you. You don't know how relieved I am to hear that." Sure enough, I felt myself breathing a bit easier…although I wasn't feeling normal again, yet.
"Well, we were planning on spending the first part of the day in the Ningenkai anyway," said Kuwabara. "We may as well do that. We can use the money that they saved after getting their stuff and just walk around for a while. Yukina should be here in a sec-" just then, a portal opened and Yukina stepped through gracefully. "YUKINA!"
"Hello, Kazuma. So, what happened?"
"Tell ya what. I'll tell you all about it while we take a romantic stroll through the beautiful park my love," said the idiot in that totally stupid pathetic attempt he always used to get the girls. I don't know how Yukina puts up with it.
"All right," said the new arrival sweetly, smiling. They were soon far away.
"Well, it seems we won't see those two for a while," observed Kurama, "so we may as well split up into groups and meet back here in a few hours. I'll go with Natalie. Hiei, do you mind walking with Sarah?" My heart skipped a beat.
"Hn."
"Alright. Here's your money." He handed us half of the coins I had given back to him. "We'll meet you in the food court at noon and see if we can find Kuwabara and Yukina."
"Sounds good." As he and Natalie started walking away, she turned and winked at me. I grinned and crossed my fingers for her to see. She repeated this gesture. As I looked around, I noticed that Hiei had seen this exchange and had a raised eyebrow. I laughed slightly. "Natalie has a thing for him." He 'hn'ed, then stood there. "Okay, so I'm guessing that I'll be leading the way?" He gave me a look that said "Like I know where to go? Yes onna, you're leading." "Alrighty then, let's get started." I grabbed his arm and ran back into the Hot Topic-like store before he could protest. He saw the dragon ring on my finger and said-
"Where did you get that?"
"Hm?"
"You didn't have that ring when you came here."
"Yeah, I got it here."
I looked around again and found a nice black denim beanie hat. It fit perfectly. I looked at a large collection of pins and found three small ones. One had a picture of a blood-red stallion with creepy-looking eyes and fangs that made it look beautiful at the same time. The second had a picture of a rearing black dragon. I laughed as I thought of Hiei. The last one had a picture of a beautiful white, angelic creature (it was impossible to tell what kind of creature it was by the way it was painted) that made me think of the White Phoenix. After I purchased all of this I put the three pins in a V on the right side of the beanie, and put it on my head. It matched the clothes that I was currently wearing, which were the tight black jeans and long sleeve shirt with a black fairy painted by Nene Thomas on the front that I had been wearing this whole time (A/N: by the way, Nene Thomas is an awesome artist and if you haven't already, you should check out her website). I found Hiei looking at some black belts.
"Want one?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Guess not." I looked at the big roman numeral clock on the wall. 11:10.
"Do you know where the food court is?" I asked Hiei. He glared at me. "Nope. Well, there's probably a mall map around here somewhere." Spotting one, I rearranged the many bags I was carrying and walked over to it. I found the sign that meant "food court" and headed in that direction, Hiei in tow. On our way down, I spotted something else, and noticed that Hiei had, too.
An ice-cream cart.
I smiled knowingly and walked over to it. I noticed Hiei's face lighten up like a child's when he realized I was going to buy him some. "…That's too cute." my thoughts were screaming.
"What kind do you want?" I asked him. I watched his eyes skim over the options, then rest on one: mint-chocolate chip. When the vendor asked what we wanted, I asked for one mint-chocolate chip. The vendor handed it to Hiei, who was eyeing it hungrily. I had to hide a laugh as he began licking at it (more like attacking it). When he looked at me questioningly, I answered his thoughts with a shrug. "I'm allergic." He looked at the ice cream. "Don't worry," I said reassuringly, "I'm used to people eating stuff that I'm allergic to." He shrugged and finished his cone, throwing the napkin away in a nearby trashcan. "I think I just discovered the perfect present for you, Bajito."
"Don't call me that. And … do you mean that you've never had sweet snow before?" he asked, using his name for ice cream.
"I have, but only the kind that I can make at home."
"You can make sweet snow?" he asked, bewildered. It was so funny how much he changed when talking about his precious "sweet snow." I laughed again.
"Yes, but I'm sure that it's not as good as the store-bought, since it's milk-free and doesn't have a lot of the ingredients that the kind of ice cream you like does." He nodded in understanding. Then, he seemed to return to normal as we approached the food court. The other two weren't there yet, so we found a table and waited, after I bought a bottle of Grape Soda and a big bag of Wavy Lays. As I opened my bag of chips, Hiei said "Onna" and pointed to a couple coming toward us. I grinned from ear to ear when I realized that the arm-in-arm laughing couple was none other than Natalie and Kurama. Natalie had a single red rose in one hand and was wearing a beanie as well, only it was white with a sewn-on picture of a white fox on it. Her just-past-the-shoulder-length brown hair flowed gracefully and fully down from the beanie, as did my middle-of-the-back-length dark blonde hair did. She was wearing high-heel white knee-length boots that matched her white skirt. (I forgot to mention that I was wearing black stack-heel slip-ons.)
As they approached our table, I said "Well, it seems like you two have really hit it off." They both smiled and Kurama blushed. "So, are you two an 'item' now?" I asked slyly.
"Yep!" said Natalie cheerfully.
"And how did that happen?"
"Well…"
(Flashback – Natalie's POV)
"So where would you like to go first?" asked the redhead.
I thought back to the stores we had already visited, and found the one I was looking for: the one that reminded me of PacSun. "That one." I pointed to it.
"Alright."
I grabbed his hand in a burst of courage and pulled him with me over to the store. As we entered, I got an idea. "Just a minute, I wanna change into something I already got."
"By all means." He smiled at me, and I felt my insides melting. He was so freaking gorgeous! I smiled back as cutely as I could and headed back to the dressing rooms with my bags. I changed quickly into a shirt with a single red rose draped over the front and a white skirt. While changing, I let my mind drift to Kurama. During breakfast, he had told me about his family. Never before had I seen someone speak of their family with such love and happiness. You could practically see the love in his eyes when he spoke of his mother. He was such an amazing guy. A total gentleman, gorgeous, polite and caring, loving, strong, and stern when need be. In other words, he was perfect. And now I just had to make him see how perfect he was for me (and vice versa). I slipped on the shirt and went back out to meet him. I found him in the men's department and ran up to meet him as he was checking out an overcoat with a peculiar design on one side.
"Whaddaya think?" I asked, showing off my outfit. He smiled at me again.
"I love it." Yay! I noticed something in the women's department and I walked over to it, leaving Kurama to his shirt-shopping. It was a white beanie with a picture of a white fox sewn on to it. Could that BE more PERFECT!? I thought as I checked the price tag. Yep! I had enough money. I paid for the hat just as Kurama came back from the other side of the store, empty-handed.
"You didn't want it?" I asked.
"No. I already have one like it."
"Oh ok. By the way, check this out!" I showed him the beanie, fox-side up. His eyes shown with humor when he said-
"How about that," as a statement.
"Yeah, not to mention it matches perfectly," I said dramatically, acting silly. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt around him. I usually only acted this way with my closest friends (usually I act sillier). He laughed at this, and my heart fluttered. We left the store and glanced at a large clock on the wall.
"Umm…do you know where the food court is?" I asked sheepishly.
"Of course. Follow me," he replied politely (Does he have any other kind of reply? I wondered)
"Will do."
As we began to walk toward … wherever Kurama was taking us, he offered me his arm. I accepted it with a huge smile as we continued walking. Soon, however, he stopped and turned to me. He reached into his hair and withdrew-
A single red rose, perfectly bloomed and without any blackened edges, thorns blunted and mid-length stem. It looked exactly like the one he used for his rose whip. My heart stopped as he turned to me and offered me the rose.
"You really are a beautiful young girl…and I can see that you have a good heart. I'd like to get to know you better…if you'll let me."
I stood there, mouth open, eyes wide, for several moments. I accepted the rose, still transfixed. Then, it finally clicked, and I screamed and jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck, being careful not to crush the rose. "Yes! Of course!!" He laughed and put his arms around my waist.
"So wait," I said, releasing him, "does this means we're…together…or what?"
"I was hoping that the rose would take the place of a class ring," Kurama said, blushing furiously. "And I was hoping that the hug meant 'yes.'"
"Well, let me clear that up for you," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "YES!" I flung myself at him again. He pulled back and offered me his arm again, which I accepted.
And so, we continued our walk toward the food court, which was now only a staircase away. Then, we saw Hiei and Sarah.
(End flashback – Sarah's POV)
"And then we came over to you guys." Natalie finished.
"Hn. Kurama, I'm disappointed," said Hiei, closing his eyes and smirking, "you can do much better than that." I elbowed him – HARD – causing him to fall off the table (which he had been sitting on).
"Watch it, twerp!" I said, while he quickly stood up and glared his most evil glare at me. "Sorry, Bajito, but those glares don't work on me. And that's lesson #1 – never insult me or Natalie. It'll only end up in your mortification." I smiled sweetly at him, and I knew that the only reason he wasn't insulting or attacking me was because I'd bought him "sweet snow" (and he'd be in trouble with the Baby Boss). I looked up to see Kurama and Natalie snickering at us.
"Don't worry, Hiei," said Natalie, still smiling, "that's just Sarah's way of telling you she like's you." Hiei grimaced, and it was my turn to glare at Natalie. She gave me a look that said "You know it's true," and I sighed.
"Actually, she's right," I told Hiei. "This is how I treat all of my guy friends. You'll find that I can be quite violent at times."
"Hn. I never said that I was your friend, Onna."
"Maybe you don't have to, Bajito." He gave me a look. It was … weird.
"HEY, GUYS!" called a familiar voice.
It was Kuwabara and Yukina. They were running up to us. "Are we ready to go back to Genkai's?" asked the orange-head.
"I think so," said Kurama.
"Hey, are you guys together now?" he asked, meaning Natalie and Kurama.
"Let's just get back to the temple," I said.
"Alright," everyone said.
Back at Genkai's, Natalie and I had already put away our new clothes and accessories, and Natalie had filled me in on ALL the details of her new relationship with Kurama. I couldn't be happier for her. But then she brought it up.
"Sooooo…?"
"So what?"
"SO, I was noticing some … shall we call it eye movement? … with Hiei."
"Huh?"
"Are you crushing on him?"
"…"
"You ARE!"
"…"
"Come on, talk."
"…It's possible."
She screamed.
"Natalie, keep it down."
"I'm sorry. I just can't really picture you with him."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Okay, say something."
"I can't help it. I just really like him. Actually, I liked him even when he was just a cartoon character."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, but of course, it wasn't that serious then."
"Well, obviously, 'cause he wasn't real."
"…Actually, they always seemed real to me, Nat. I never knew why, but I always pictured something like this happening, and…now it is. It's just so…"
"Weird?"
"Exciting. This is the life I've always wanted for myself."
"Whaddaya mean?"
"…I don't really know. But I know that this was meant to happen."
"Okay, Sarah, don't get all sappy on me."
I laughed. "Alright. Let's see what the guys are doing."
"Yeah. And Kurama."
I laughed harder. "I have never seen you like this. Are you in love or something?"
"…Maybe."
I laughed some more and hugged her. "Come on, they're probably making lunch right now." As we walked down to the kitchen, arm in arm, we passed that same window again and once again Hiei was out there practicing. "Umm, ya know, I did have that huge bag of chips. I'm probably set 'til dinner." Natalie winked at me, and I leapt out of the window (my hat was still on). As I walked up to the now black blur, I wondered exactly what I was going to say. He saved me from making that decision.
"Come to start training, onna?" he asked, stopping from his exercises.
"No. I don't think I should start just yet."
"Why is that?"
"Because…remember what happened yesterday when I came up the stairs?"
"You were having breathing troubles."
"Right. Now imagine what would happen if I did some actual exercise."
"You won't have to do any real exercise."
"…"
"You start with stretching. You aren't nearly limber enough to start learning how to use a sword or fight at all."
Natalie came running up with Kurama and the boys. "Hey! Wait up!"
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We're having lunch later. Right now, Kurama wants me to start training."
"Same with me and Hiei, and he wants me to start with stretching. He says I'm not 'limber' enough." I put extra emphasis on the word "limber" and gave her a look that said "he asked for it." She replied by saying-
"You show him, girl." And with that I bent backwards until I was in a bridge position. Then I walked toward my hands until my hands and feet were touching and straightened my legs and arms so that my back was almost bent entirely in half. After a few moments of cheering and catcalling from Yusuke and Kuwabara and clapping from Yukina, I threw my legs up in a handstand position and then dropped them again, standing up straight.
"Well?" I asked, looking at Hiei.
But he wasn't there. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air and then landing unceremoniously on the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I coughed and gasped. Hiei came to a stop right next to me and smirked. "You did all that just to fall flat on your face."
I glared at him with all the willpower I could muster. He only lifted an eyebrow. Natalie helped me stand up while I continued to splutter and cough.
"Being limber doesn't mean being flexible," Hiei continued. "It means being able to move any way you might need to whenever you need to."
"(Cough) (cough) Got it. (cough) (cough)" I waited until I could breathe again, then flicked him off.
"Oooooh!" said Natalie, "She's pissed."
"Got that right, twerp," I told him. "I understand what you're saying, but you could have just told me that instead of giving me a taste of flying and falling. You're lucky that-" Suddenly I was blown back a couple feet by an invisible hand, and I fainted.
…I was hopping from tree to tree, one thought repeating itself in my head…death, kill, blood, fun. I hopped onto a roof and peered at the couple inside. The female was fixing something to eat, and the male was reading a newspaper on a couch and watching a glowing box called a television. I grinned and drooled as I saw the blood pumping through their bodies. I opened the way for their blood to flow free and slurped greedily at the red liquid, relishing the fear and pain I saw in the couple's eyes. Then I ate out their hearts and hopped gaily to the next house, where I again peered in through the window and watched the children inside play, while the adults watched them as well. I did the same thing, making sure I ate the children last, so that I could taste more fear in their innocent little souls as I devoured them. I continued until I had visited the last house, then thought proudly over my fine work. There was a panic throughout America as the mutilated bodies were found.
"Excellent. And so it begins."…
I came around to see many worried faces looking down at me. My breathing became ragged as I remembered what I had just seen. "No…no, no….no, no, NO! I … I have to … KOENMAAAAAAAA!" A scream erupted from and tore my throat as I screeched for help.
My family was in danger.