Whew, Saturday again! For a while there I thought this wasn't going to go up in time! Ask Dr. Peppergurl about it; she was up keeping me company at three in the morning last night and cheering me on because I wanted to get just a little more done before I turned in for the night. Thank you so much, Nora!
Chapter notes, chapter notes... well, first off all, THIS CHAPTER REQUIRED A LOT OF RESEARCH! I spent several days examining maps, looking up different regions, reading up on weather patters... and this was after I confirmed that Yu Yu Hakusho had no real set location aside from a few fictional ones... and then I had to study storms and the like, find out where the heaviest snowfall was, check ninety thousand maps AGAIN to confirm MORE regions... all to ensure that what happens in this chapter is even POSSIBLE in Japan. I left nothing to chance. I hope the results are worth it.
As a note, this is the first fanfiction I've ever spent time doing research on beyond memorizing every detail I can of the series itself. And I'm still doing that, too. Whee...
A big shout out today, not to an individual but to those people I will refer to only as the 'crew.' My friends are one of my biggest sources of inspiration; from Asians who can't sing to jokers who can't keep their hands to themselves, from girls with technicolor hair to sushi buffs who eat more raw fish than Smeagol on a good day, my friends give me hours of laughs... and inspiration. I love you guys so much, even if I do abuse you all just a little bit every time I sit down at a keyboard. Stay awesome, gang!
And also a thanks to my darling mother, who sits with me through entire nights of horror films- American AND Japanese- and has fully made me appreciate how badly our special effects sucked... especially in the seventies and eighties...
And again, a HUGE thank you to my readers! It seems like every chapter there are more of you, and that, more than anything, is what keeps me going at three in the morning. Thank you all so much!
So let's go!
Touya thought he was starting to understand how Jin's relationship with this human seemed to work. Mana provided Jin with food and a warm bed, giving him someplace fairly nice to stay in the human world, and in return he annoyed the living daylights out of the girl...
"Jin, would you please stop poking me?"
... and, it seemed, pulled her out of the shell she seemed to hide in. Jin had mentioned the girl being just a little bit reclusive, but the pristine apartment seemed to show signs of something a bit more extreme than that. Yes, he'd put his bets on full-scale antisocialism with a touch of obsessive neat freak...
"Mana... Mana, the light changed..."
"What? Oh... Oh! Come on, then!"
The ice master raised an eyebrow as he followed after the blonde girl and his exuberant friend. Truth be told, he had been grateful for Jin's invitation; things at home had been just a little bit too loud, and the Ningenkai in the winter could, so he had heard, be very nice. Staring up into the sun, Touya wondered if maybe he hadn't lost that longing for the light after all. He was free, yes, but he still spent too much time in a darkened world...
"Touy!" The pale apparition blinked and returned his gaze to the world more immediately around him. Jin and Mana had both stopped to stare back at him. The redhead was shaking his head. "I swear, if it's not the one of ya it's the other! Yer both walkin' round with yer heads in the clouds today. I thought that was supposed to be me own job!"
Touya rolled his eyes lightly and kept walking. He could feel more than one human staring at their small group, but being stared at had never bothered Jin much and the girl didn't even seem to notice. Touya shrugged the brief looks off, wishing slightly that he had a hat of his own; some of the attention was undoubtedly his fault. Ahead of him, Jin was pestering his new friend for details about where they were going and why. The ice master allowed himself to relax and drop back a bit. The wind master was taking care of himself well enough.
It began snowing lightly as they were headed home. The apparition couldn't help but pause in his tracks to look upwards at the falling flakes. Jin often said that the human world had a tamer wind than the Makai, more cheerful and playful than what they were used to. As several flakes danced through the air, Touya wondered if the same wasn't true for the snow. It seemed almost friendly as it filtered down from the clouds, sticking softly to the ground. He glanced upwards, eyeing the clouds thoughtfully. Yes, the snow was peaceful and calm now, but it wasn't going to stay that way. He could practically feel the cold pressure building in the atmosphere... "Hey, Touy!"
He sighed. "Yes, Jin?"
"Yer gonna get left behind if ya don't hurry it up." Touya sighed and turned his attention back to his 'companions' in the cold; they had both stopped to look back at him again. He caught up to them quickly, slightly amused at the way their noses had turned slightly red in the cold. He had never had that particular problem. Jin stared down at him, carrying the bulk of the baggage from the store. "Not like ya to keep spacin' out."
"I was studying the clouds," Touya replied glibly. The less chances Jin had to accuse him of being inattentive the better. "We should hurry back to the apartment. It's not going to remain pleasant for much longer."
"The weather reports all say that the storm should hit full force some time right after sunset." Mana shifted slightly, almost nervously, but still looked him in the eye. "We've had a pretty harsh winter this year. They say this system is blowing straight down from Hokkaido."
Touya nodded politely. Hokkaido must have been a more northerly providence; it would make sense given where they were. He made more of a point to keep up as they walked the rest of the distance to the apartment, heading upstairs via the elevator in the back. He wondered offhand why they weren't using the front entrance, but didn't ask. In a way it made a sort of uncomfortable sense; what could the poor girl possibly say to explain him and Jin, anyway?
Suzuka was waiting when they got back, a curious look on his face. "Did you know that your stove flares rather violently when you turn it on?"
Their hostess's face went pale. "You didn't try to fix it, did you?"
"No." She seemed to relax visibly. "I was only trying to see how it works."
"It works fine once you're used to it. Just leave the cooking to me, okay? I'll take care of it." The girl headed into the kitchen and began putting the groceries away. "I hope you guys don't mind all staying in the living room tonight. I'm bringing the spare heater out here so it'll be warm in the morning and I can close off the back room."
Jin answered for them, as he always seemed to. "That'll be fine, Mana. Are ya gonna make dinner tonight?"
"I thought I would." Touya raised an eyebrow, amused at how easily the blonde responded without looking up from her work. "Dinner will be a while, so you should probably get the spare quilts out of the closet. It's going to be rough tonight."
It amused Touya how easily the girl made the prediction. Even he, inexperienced as he was with Ningenkai weather, had no idea just how right she was going to be...
Jin couldn't sleep. It wasn't that the room wasn't warm enough; Mana had set two small heaters going in the living room, and the blankets were more than cozy enough. It was the storm picking up strength outside that had him driven to distractions. Even with heavy curtains drawn over the glass cold still seeped in at the sliding doors. And then the wind... he could hear it, he could sense it, but it was too cold to actually go outside and feel it. He hated it when things worked out that way. It made it harder than ever to stay indoors.
There was a click from the hallway, the soft sound of a door opening. Jin sat up, curious, and heard Mana cross the hallway into the bathroom. The redhead waited a moment before standing, peeking into the hallway just as Mana headed back into the hallway with a rubber bottle in her hands. "Hey, there."
The girl jumped, blinking at him for several wide-eyed seconds before nodding. "Hi..."
"Ya can't sleep either?" He stepped towards the hall, keeping his voice low; it would be better for the girl if Suzuka remained asleep. Mana was shaking her head, hugging the bottle against her; she'd probably been heating it in the bathroom. "Too cold in there for ya?"
The blonde shook her head again, her voice barely above a whisper when she spoke again. "It's noisy outside tonight. I always have a hard time sleeping during storms."
Jin nodded. "Same for me, actually. Can't keep me eyes shut when I know there's somethin' goin' on in the great big outdoors." The girl nodded, glancing towards her glass door as a fierce gust whistled around the building. Of course; Mana's room was located on the corner of the complex, so she'd be getting even more noise than the rest of them were. Jin raised an eyebrow. "Ya want to maybe stay out here with us?"
"Um..." The healer looked wary. "There's not really room for four people, I don't think. The couch only goes so far..."
"The couch only goes so far as Suzuka. Me and Touy can sleep anywhere, though, so that doesn't bother us any." Mana still looked uncertain. Jin sighed lightly. "Mana, yer not gonna get any sleep in there listenin' to that. It'd be better for ya to come out here with us."
"Let me get my blankets..." The girl slipped back into her room by the light of her bedside lamp. Jin waited, helping her carry her quilt when she came back out. "Where is there room?"
"Well, Suzuka stole the couch with one of the heaters right there, and then Touya passed out by the bookshelves, which is fine 'cause he doesn't mind the cold so much, so I was mostly huddlin' against the back of the couch near the other heater. Plenty of room there, there is. I can shove over a bit if ya want." The girl nodded slightly, motioning with one finger against her lips. Jin dropped his voice back down. "See, it's just a bit quieter out here. Might help ya rest better than bein' all alone in that empty room."
They worked silently to arrange her blankets into something comfortable for sitting on and bundling up in. Mana scowled lightly up at him as he tucked them up around her neck, but he was used to that by now. To his surprise, the girl fell asleep rather quickly once she was situated- and actually ended up resting her head against his leg slightly- which left him awake and alone all over again. The redhead sighed. Such was life...
He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep- he was certain he must have sat there for an hour just staring down at the side of Mana's little golden head- when Touya shook him awake. He blinked, yawning openly and receiving a rather flat look from the ice apparition. "Wot?"
"Could you advise your friend against trying to go out right now? I don't think it's very safe out there for a human."
Jin sat up, blinking. What was he... oh, right. Yesterday was Sunday, today was Monday, and that meant Mana had school. "Where is the lass?"
"She's in her room, getting ready to go." Touya sat back on his heels. "Jin, I honestly don't think it's safe for a human to go outside right now. The storm got worse over night. But she is insisting on leaving the building..."
"Right, I'll give her an earful for that one..." Jin stood and headed for the hallway, wrinkling his nose slightly as he went. The 'beautiful fighter' was snoring again. He would have done something about it, preferably rolling the other demon clean off the couch, if he hadn't been accused of doing the exact same thing on a small handful of occasions himself. It was never a good idea to invite retribution that way, Jin knew that from experience. Mana's door was shut, but he could hear her shuffling around inside her room. "Hey, Mana?"
"One moment!" Something slammed slightly- it sounded like a book closing- and then the door opened. "Yeah?"
He stared; she was already in her uniform and everything. "Mana, yer not really thinkin' of goin' to school today, are ya?"
The girl huffed lightly. "As I told Touya, yes, I am." She opened her door and slid past him, heading into the bathroom with her hairbrush in hand. "My attendance record is bad enough as it is without skipping out over a bit of bad weather."
"But how are ya gonna get to school?" Jin frowned. "Ya usually walk, don't ya? Ya can't go walkin' in that, ya'd freeze to death!"
"So I'll take the bus." The girl was fully focused on the mirror in front of her. "I walk for the exercise, not because I have no other options. There's an exam on Friday that I really want to get some books from the library to study for." The girl set to work arranging her braids. "So I need to go to school."
And then the power went out.
The startled yelp from the bathroom almost made his ears ache as the apartment went dark. The bathroom in particular went pitch black, the only light in the whole place coming from the balcony doors... and the curtains they'd put up to keep the cold out were effectively blocking that out before it even stood a chance. Sighing, Jin reached into the darkened room. It took him a moment, but he managed to tug the girl out by the arm. "Yer stayin' home."
"Okay..." Her voice was small as she finally gave in. He could barely see even the vaguest outline of her body in the thick gloom. "I have a flashlight in my room... um... and there are candles..."
There was a rustling in the main room as Touya pulled the curtains open. A soft, grayish-toned light filtered into the apartment. "Will that be enough help you find them?"
"Um... the candles yeah, I think..." Mana frowned, peering into her room. "I'll need the flashlight to find the matches though. Give me a moment."
Jin listened as Mana headed into the darkened room. It took a few seconds before he heard a sound, and when he did it was a thud and a soft swear. He raised one eyebrow, amused. He never would have guessed such a nice little girl knew words like that. "Ya doin' okay in there?"
"I'm fine! I was just finding the table..." Well, that would explain both the thud and the swearing. Jin heard a drawer sliding open and stepped back from the door as a beam of light cut into the hallway. "Okay! I got it!"
"You may want to hurry. The longer the curtains are open, the more heat we'll loose." That was Touya all right, Jin decided. Always calm and collected no matter what the situation was. Mana brushed passed him, heading for the kitchen, and he pulled the bedroom door shut after her. It would probably help preserve the warmth in the building if they closed off any unnecessary rooms. Jin glanced at the bathroom for a moment before pulling that door shut as well. Anyone who needed to use the bathroom probably wouldn't much care for him for it, but that wouldn't be his problem until it was his turn anyway.
Mana was fumbling with a matchbox as he headed into the living room, noting with some chagrin that Suzuka was still fast asleep. After a few moments there was a sputter and a flare of light from the kitchen. He peered over the wall as the blonde used the first candle to light several others, noting with amusement that half of her hair was down and the other half was half-braided. "Hey, Jin, do me a favor?"
Well, there was no need to not help out. "Wot do ya need?"
Mana started setting the candles onto a cookie sheet. "There's also a lantern on top of the refrigerator. Could you get that down for me?"
"No problem there." It took him a moment to find it, shoved behind a wok, and by the time he had it down Mana had carried the candles into the main part of the living room. Touya was already closing the curtains back up by the time he got around to the table. "We got everything now?"
"Yeah, this should be good." The healer was chewing her lip lightly as she took the lantern from his hands, pressing a button at the base to turn it on before turning it right back off again. "We'll save the batteries."
Jin frowned. "Don't it make more sense to save the candles?"
The healer girl frowned lightly. "Honestly? The lamp gives off a lot more light. I'd rather have that for when it gets dark out and things get really bad in here."
Silence fell over the room as the three of them stood there. Mana and Touya were both staring down at the candles pensively. Jin tilted his head, eyeing the pathetic little half-braid. "Ya gonna finish that?"
"Finish what?" Mana blinked, confused. Jin reached over, tugging at her hair.
"This." The girl scowled and batted his hand away before unraveling the plaits. "Atta girl. Looked funny half done, that one did."
And the room fell silent again. Jin watched as Mana headed over to the door, only to return to the lighted area with her school bag. She met his and Touya's stares as she sat down and opened the bag. "What?"
"Ya don't know how to take a day off, do ya?" Jin flopped down next to her, thought better of it, and stood up again to grab the quilts. The girl gave a light shrug.
"What's the point in falling behind? I'm going to give it an hour or so to see if the power comes back on, and then I'll try and make breakfast. I might as well try to study in the meantime."
The wind master nodded lightly as he dragged their makeshift bedding around to the front of the couch. Suzuka hadn't even shifted the way he was laying after the power had gone out. Somehow, Jin wasn't entirely surprised. He settled down next to Mana and made himself comfortable, trying his best to wait patiently for her to get tired of the books. After ten minutes he couldn't stand the silence. "Hey, Mana, how are ya even seein' wot's on the pages?"
"I'm making sure I'm getting light on them." The girl turned a page, her face awfully close to the paper. The wind master frowned.
"I don't think that's very good for ya there. Could ruin your eyes that way, so I say." Jin gave her a light prod in the side. "If ya really want to study, ya need a better light than that."
"I'll be fine. Look, he's reading." Jin blinked and looked up; Touya had grabbed a book and settled down across the small table from them. The redhead scowled.
"I told ya before, I can't even begin to figure on how his eyes even work. It's up to him if he ruins them!"
"How very considerate of you," Touya quipped dryly without even looking up from his page. Jin frowned. Were they both going to leave him bored now? That didn't seem very nice. Sighing, the redhead sat back against the couch. Sooner or later one of them had to decide that this wasn't the right light for reading.
He wasn't sure how long they'd sat in the near darkness, but eventually Mana got up and stretched. "Is anyone hungry?"
"Food would be nice." Jin stood, following her. "How are ya gonna cook anything, though? Can ya still use yer stove?"
"It is gas powered." Mana picked up the box of matches and her lamp and headed into the kitchen. "I can light it with these."
Jin gave the girl a doubtful stare. "Yer just askin' to set yer hair on fire, aren't ya?"
"I'm not going to set my hair on fire." The girl frowned, turning on the lamp and peering into the refrigerator. "I can make eggs, at least, and some fish. The rice cooker is useless, though." Jin just nodded. Personally, he was glad for that one...
It was only once the food was cooking that Suzuka woke up. He stared around the apartment, blinking wearily. "What's going on? It's dark in here."
Jin smiled wryly as Touya replied, simply, "The power went out." Touya wasn't one of those folk who went around stating the obvious all the time, but sometimes he was blunt enough to make someone wonder. And even then he managed to look and sound smarter than Suzuka, who was staring at him blankly.
"The power is out?"
"That's what I said." The ice master didn't look up from his book. Jin frowned, wondering if Touya had any idea how annoying that little habit of his was.
"Oh..." Suzuka yawned and stretched his arms up above his head. "What's that smell?"
"Breakfast," Mana called from her position by the stove. "It's simple today, just eggs and fish, but it should be ready soon."
The fighter nodded blearily. "How long are the lights going to be out?"
"We don't know." Mana flipped over a piece of fish in one of the pans; the smell made Jin realize just how hungry he was. "It depends on when the city gets around to fixing it. We could be out for just a few hours, or we could be out all day."
"Great. So we're stuck without light. What about the heaters?"
"Those are out, too, Suzuka." Touya turned a page. "Everything that runs on electricity is off. And you're not allowed to try to fix it."
Mana looked over at him curiously when she heard that. Jin shook his head, hoping she'd get the idea not to ask. It was better if he explained Suzuka's tendencies to tamper with things when he wasn't actually in earshot. Mana frowned lightly and went back to her cooking without a word, much to his relief. It was definitely better that way.
Breakfast was quiet that morning. No one seemed to have much to say; even Jin himself couldn't think of a good way to start a conversation. It seemed like the darkness had done something to quiet all of them down; Suzuka wasn't talking as much as he usually did, either. Once breakfast was finished Mana disappeared into her room with the lamp, only to return several minutes later in warmer clothes... and pick up her schoolbooks again. He scowled. Now all three of them were reading. "There's got to be somethin' better for ya to do than that."
"I told you, I have a quiz coming up. I can't just go taking the day off just because I'm staying home from school."
"But ya study enough already." Jin prodded her in the side. "And I told ya, that can't be good fer ya to read like that. It's gonna make yer head hurt."
Lavender eyes looked up at him warily, so dark in the dim light that they almost seemed deep violet. "Can you think of anything better to do?"
"Em..." The girl had a point. Trapped inside with the lights out, there really weren't a whole lot of options. He sighed. "Well, since ya seem to think talkin' is out I guess there's not a lot there."
"Then why don't you get a book to read yourself?" He could hear Touya snort lightly; apparently he thought this was funny. Jin scowled and settled against the couch.
"I'll just manage on me own, then." Resting his arms behind his head, he waited. Sooner or later, one of them had to get bored. Sooner or later...
Jin had no idea when he'd dozed off, but he by the time he woke up the lights had come back on. Blinking several times, he looked around the room. Touya had moved over by the doors... probably to feel some of the chill, and Suzuka was sprawled on the couch. Frowning, he looked around. Where was Mana?
There was a soft chuckling from Touya's little corner of the room. "Look down, Jin." He did as he was told, and gaped. Mana had been sitting up reading the last thing he recalled, but now she was leaning against him fast asleep with the book still in her hands. He heard the ice master laugh again softly. "She passed out not long after you did."
"Ah, great." Now Suzuka was chuckling, too. Jin blinked. "Wot?"
"It looks like you've got yourself a new pet there." The inventor was grinning. "You know, most apparitions would pay nicely for a cute little pet human, especially one who cooks the way she does. If you could only train her to dress a little better, I'm sure you could-"
Jin narrowed his eyes. "Suzuka, if ya got half a brain in that head of yers, ya won't go finishin' that sentence." The fighter cut short abruptly and actually sat back slightly. "It ain't right thinkin' of humans that way, especially not a one who let ya stay in her home."
The master of a thousand sighed. "You know, for someone who's always trying to joke around you can't really take one yourself, can you?" He flopped back into the cushions. "Still, she could use a little advice on fashion. So far I haven't seen her do a thing with that hair. It's a waste!"
"Yer a loon..." Jin trailed off as the girl stirred lightly. After a moment it became clear that she wasn't waking up, only making herself more comfortable. He sighed. "Well, wot am I supposed to do now?"
"I suppose you have two options. Either you try to move her, or you sit there and deal with it." Touya had one of those quietly amused looks on his face again. "She does look young when she's asleep, doesn't she?"
"Ya should see yerself sometime," Jin muttered, resigning himself to the fact that he was going to have to stay where he was if he wanted to stay on Mana's good side. He motioned towards the television. "Could one of ya turn that thing on for me? I'll be dyin' of boredom here before too long otherwise."
Mana woke up to the sounds of a woman screaming and debating voices. "I don't know. I've never seen anyone's jaw ripped off like that before, but I'm pretty sure that if I did it wouldn't look like that."
"Yer just sayin' that 'cause ya didn't come up with it yerself. I say it looks pretty right like wot ya'd expect of it. Not so sure the tongue'd be lollin' around like that without bein' a bit more bloodied at the bottom, but other than that I think it's pretty well done."
"Still, it's obvious that the girl is the walking dead by now. You'd think her mother would take the hint and run."
A third voice cut in. "If they did that, it might reduce the body count. I think that's what these movies aim for."
Mana opened her eyes wearily, staring at the television. "You guys are watching Ju-on?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Touya shrugged lightly. "They've done nothing but argue about it since we started it, though."
Suzuka huffed lightly. Mana blinked; she still wasn't sure what she thought of him. "It isn't my fault they've done such a poor job with the make-up. Anyone with a bit of real skill would know that-"
"Ya say everyone lacks skill just cause they ain't you." Mana jumped slightly at just how close Jin's voice was, only to smack the top of her head on something solid. "Hey! Easy there, ya almost made me bite me tongue!"
The girl jerked backwards. "Ah..." Oh, great, now all three of them were looking at her. "Ah... was... was I asleep?"
"Ya sure were. Out like a light through over half the movie." Jin reached over and ruffled her bangs. "Didn't mean to wake ya, but this git over here can't keep quiet."
Suzuka huffed again. "Well, excuse me. I'm sorry, but this is just too unrealistic for my tastes."
"There's nothing wrong with it, Suzuka, but if you'd like you can pick what we watch next." Mana was already quickly seeing how Touya was the voice of reason for the three. She shifted lightly, trying to get her own little seating area, and blinked. When had the power come back on? Sighing, she settled back to watch the rest of the movie. She'd seen Ju-on before a time or two, most notably the last time she'd slept over at the twins, and while the film had sent the twin's younger brother and sister scurrying out of the room Mana hadn't found it to be all that bad. Then again, as Sachi had reminded her, anything undead or ghostly that came after her had something of a deathwish to begin with.
They spent the rest of the afternoon bundled up on and around the couch, watching whatever horror movies came on. The power managed to hold out the rest of the day, but Mana brought her own small heater out of her room and into the main area as night fell just in case. It seemed like a good idea to get the main room as warm as they could before they went to sleep.
Which meant, the girl thought with a sigh, that she would probably be camping out in her living room with them again.
On the plus side, the girl thought as she fixed a dinner large enough for six at least, she would have been going insane if she'd been caught in her apartment all alone. Too often over the past few months she'd turned her music up louder than normal just to drown out the silence. If she had been caught in the pitch-white storm on her own she wasn't sure what she would have been doing right now... although she had a hunch it would have been far less entertaining than listening to Suzuka picking apart another film. She hadn't been sure what had possessed her to suggest watching an American monster flick, but the results had been entertaining the moment there was a spray of orange blood. Her mouth twitched lightly. Maybe now he wouldn't be so critical of the quality of Japanese horror films...
"Wot do ya got there?" Mana jumped, almost dropping the frying pan she'd been stirring, and scowled. Jin stepped back. "Em... sorry?"
"Out." Mana gripped the pan tighter. "You can wait for it to be ready."
The redhead actually pouted at her. "That's mean, Mana. I wasn't gonna get into anything this time."
"You do it without even trying. Move, please. I need to set this pan on the rack."
"Oh." Jin shifted to the side, letting her slip by. "Does that mean it's done?"
"No, that means that this is done. I still have to finish the rest of it."
"Oh..." Mana turned back to the stove. By the time she turned around again, he was chewing on something. "Hey, this is pretty good. Ya know-"
She could hear Suzuka laughing as she chased him out of the kitchen.
