TheHeartsPath: Wow! I made it to the first of the double digit chapters! Hooray! Please read and review! Hope you like the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its' characters. They are owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. I own only Ayla, her family, and any other characters that do not show up in the series.

"Talking" Thoughts ~Telepathy or mind-reading~

NOTES:

Kimono – a long robe with wide sleeves traditionally worn with a broad sash as an outer garment by the Japanese

Obi – a broad sash worn especially with a Japanese kimono

Geta – a Japanese wooden clog for outdoor wear

Zori – a flat thonged sandal usually made of straw, cloth, leather, or rubber

Sakura – cherry blossoms

Chapter 10: Kimonos

Ayla's POV

The next day I had been told by some seniors that I had 'better stay away from Shuichi Minamino or else.' Which is how I found out exactly why all those girls had tried to beat me up during dodge ball in gym yesterday. They were all members of the 'Shuichi Minamino Fan-Club'. Oh joy. Turned out that a couple of them had seen me talking to him near the end of lunch.

So what do good, little, psychotic fan-girls do? Spread the word that a particular new girl is getting 'uppity' and talking alone with the club's idol. I immediately notified Gwen about the risk of being a target of the rabid wolves through telepathy. My bad, I meant the rabid fan-girls. Not my fault that it's so hard to tell the difference between the two. She let me know that she'd be careful.

Both my senses of sight and smell have been acting up over the week. Meaning I've had headaches every damn day. My control over my spirit energy also seems to have gone haywire. On Wednesday, I had gotten annoyed after having fan-girls threaten me for the hundredth time that day and ended up sending a small wave of spirit energy out. Meaning I ended up shattering all the windows of the classroom I was in. This of course freaked out the students, but the teacher managed to get everyone to calm down.

Most of the glass had gone outside, but some had gone into the classroom. So a few of the students got hit with some pieces. I had tried to put a shield over myself, Kokoda, and the other students sitting by the windows, but for some reason I couldn't put one up.

Because I had been the source of the windows shattering Kokoda and I had the worst injuries. Kokoda would probably have a small scar that went through his left eyebrow. While I did have several cuts on my face none of them were deep enough to cause scars. All six of us that had cuts were told to go to the nurse's office. Thankfully none of us had gotten glass in our eyes.

I told Kokoda that I would take care of my own cuts with the first aid kit I had in my locker. He tried to convince me otherwise, but he'd stopped trying and gone to the nurse when I told him that I didn't really like other people whom I didn't know tending to my injuries.

It was only while I was tending my injuries that I realized why my control over my spirit energy wasn't at its best. I had another power awakening. Yippee. Just what I needed. After that I made sure not to let my emotions get the better of my control. Sadly, that's not the easiest thing in the world for an empath to do.

So other than being threatened by crazy fan-girls, the rest of the week went by without too much insanity. Well, without too much insanity from 'normal' things that is. Or as normal as anything could be in my life.

Hiei was still following me everyday. I had the weirdest dream about him on Wednesday night. In the dream he gently touched my face near my injuries saying, "'You should be more careful and take better care of yourself Ayla.'" It had felt so real.

These last few days I've caught myself touching my face where Hiei's fingers had touched in my dream and blushing as I remembered said dream. I had to keep reminding myself that it was just a dream and nothing more. We haven't spoken to each other since Monday. Not that I even want to talk with him. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

The study group was working really well for everyone. Although Gwen and I were having a bit of trouble keeping Sinclair and Kokoda focused on the parts of their homework that didn't revolve around computers.

Surprisingly I was actually beginning to understand math with Shuichi's tutoring. He was way better at explaining it in a way I could understand than any of my previous tutors. So much better that I was able to correctly solve a problem on the board that the teacher had asked me to solve on Thursday. Kokoda told Gwen and Sinclair about it much to my embarrassment. Both had congratulated me on it. They then proceeded to embarrass me further when we went home and then over to the Minamino's for studying. Thus, more congratulations occurred.

I wanted to do nothing more than find a hole and crawl in it. No one can ever brag and embarrass you more than your own family can. And over things that don't really need to be bragged about either.

It was Saturday, so Kira and I had left the house around nine o'clock this morning to head to Grandma Genkai's. As we had left the house I noticed that Hiei was M.I.A. For some reason he wasn't following me around today. It's now ten o'clock and we're on the bus heading out of the city to see Grandma Genkai for the first time in about a year. Grandma Genkai had been so busy with psychic matters the past couple of years that she hadn't been able to visit as often as she usually did.

I was sitting on the isle with Kira sitting on my left, by the window. Originally she had been watching the scenery go by, but about ten minutes ago she had fallen asleep. Kira always managed to fall asleep in an automobile if the ride was going to last more than thirty minutes. There was a bag in my right hand and my left arm was around her shoulders, making it so she was leaning against me. Didn't want her leaning against the window if the bus hit a pothole or something and end up hitting her head.

Sleeping peacefully she was looking absolutely cute in her new kimono. The outer robe was emerald green with sakura scattered on it while the inner robe was a dark purple with the obi being the same color.

On our way to the bus station, we had walked by a store that sold both dresses and kimonos. Shoes (or geta and zori for kimonos) were also sold so that you could actually leave the store with the complete outfit, while wearing it. The kimono had been in the store window and by the look on Kira's face I knew she had fallen in love with it. Because I knew she had grown out of her last one I decided to buy it for her.

I had enough money saved up from allowances, holidays, and all the odd jobs that I'd had over the years to buy something like that for my baby sister. Hell, I probably could have bought something like that for myself as well and still have enough money leftover to buy more outfits like it. Since I'm not a big fan of spending money all the time, especially on clothes, I didn't have any intention of finding out if that was true or not.

Unfortunately, I ended up finding out anyways.

Kira had been standing beside me wearing her new kimono and zori, while I was getting ready to pay for them, when something caught her attention. She'd grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the register. I wasn't even going to ask her why she'd suddenly dragged me away before I had paid for her new kimono because it could only mean one thing.

She saw an outfit that only she could talk me into getting for myself. For the life of me, I still haven't been able to figure out how she does it. It was for this reason that whenever Gwen dragged me along to go clothes shopping, she made certain that Kira came too. Just so she could make sure I had something that was 'in style'.

To me, clothes shopping is hell on earth. If someone wanted to torture me for information they didn't need anything that was actually designed for torture. Nope. All they had to do was drag me through a clothing store full of the newest fashions and crazy women looking for a sale. I'd break in less than five minutes of entering the store.

So I learned to shall we say, 'disappear,' whenever Gwen got in the mood to go clothes shopping. I couldn't always manage the disappearing act, but I sure as hell tried.

The lady at the register followed after us, probably to make sure we didn't leave without paying first. I started reassuring her that I would in fact pay for the kimono when Kira suddenly stopped and I bumped into her. Still talking to the lady, I looked at Kira who was pointing at something in front of her. Looking up I found myself completely speechless.

It was another kimono, only this one was in my size and my favorite colors. The outer robe was the same shade of the outer part of my irises (without the contacts), medium sage green. The inner robe and obi were both in lilac. I noticed there was some kind of small design along the edges of the outer robe in black and walked closer to find out what it was. Dragons, not the western type that have wings, but the eastern type with the long bodies that always seem to look as if they might move if you looked away.

How the hell I hadn't seen it before was a mystery to me.

It was then I realized that Kira wasn't holding my arm and turned to look at her. She smiled at me and looked quite proud of herself for having spotted the kimono. I couldn't help but smile back.

The lady was thrilled when I said that I wanted to buy not just the kimono that Kira was wearing, but also the one on the mannequin along with a pair of zori. I could survive wearing zori but geta were a danger to both my ankles and neck. When she asked if I wanted to wear it out of the store I had declined, saying that I wanted both items placed in a bag.

Once we were out of the store and on our way to the bus station again, Kira asked why I hadn't wanted to wear the kimono on the way to Grandma Genkai's. Reminding her of the stairs that were at the base of her temple, I said that I would never try to go up them in a kimono. I didn't trust my klutzy self to not end up injuring myself in something fancy like a kimono. When dealing with Grandma's stairs I would always choose pants, they just had better movement.

Apparently she had forgotten about the stairs and looked worried now that I had mentioned them. I promised that I'd carry her up them so she could keep wearing her kimono. She stopped looking worried and then had this look that said she had an idea.

Looking at me she had a grin that I swear could have put the Cheshire Cat itself to shame. Whenever Kira got that look it meant she wanted me to promise her something that was reasonable, but probably not something that I'd be completely comfortable with. She wanted me to put the kimono on once we got to Grandma Genkai's. I really didn't want to wear the thing unless it was for a special occasion, like I usually do with fancy clothes, but she started giving me the puppy eyes.

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, those eyes that almost no one can resist. The puppy eyes were losing until she brought up the fact that we hadn't seen Grandma Genkai in about a year. Which basically made this a special occasion and that she would probably like to see me in my new kimono too.

Leave it to my baby sister to make not having seen our grandmother in nearly a year into the type of special occasion where really nice clothes was more appropriate. The way Kira can manipulate me and others sometimes makes me think she should go into politics when she's older. So like any big sister that can't refuse their baby sister anything, I agreed.

Here's to hoping that I didn't end up regretting my promise.

Our stop was coming up so I decided to wake Kira from her nap. "Kira, wake up." All she did was snuggle into my side more, like a kitten would do with its littermates. My mouth twitched in amusement and I shook her lightly. "Wake up Pixie. We'll be at our stop soon." Still she wouldn't wake up. Well that didn't work. Hmm...Aha! That'll get her to wake up quickly. "Gee, guess I won't be wearing my new kimono when we get to Grandma Genkai's then." I said watching Kira intently.

Not even a second later her eyes shot open. "You promised Ayla!" she said, sitting up. Seeing me smirking she gave me a disgruntled look. "You only said that so I'd wake up didn't you sissy?"

"Yep." I chuckled. She has no idea how adorable she looks when disgruntled.

The bus stopped and we got off. After walking for a few minutes we came to the base of the stairs that lead to the temple. "Been a good while since either of us last went up these blasted things." I said looking up the stairs.

Kira nodded, "I can't wait to see Grandma Genkai!"

"Neither can I. Hold onto the bag for me while I carry you?"

"Sure sissy." I gave her the bag and picked her up bridal style. "Are you gonna do that fast running you do sometimes?" she asked me, a hopeful lilt to her voice. She loved it when I would run faster than normal while carrying her.

Shaking my head I answered, "Not this time Kira." When she looked disappointed I told her, "My control over my abilities hasn't been at its best lately Kira. Remember what I told Mom and Dad about the window incident? I don't want to take a chance of something going wrong with my control being like it is and getting you hurt."

"I understand sissy." she answered.

"Tell you what. Once my abilities are back under control I'll take for you good run. Okay?"

"Promise?"

"Promise." With that we started up the stairs.

Getting to the top took a while, but I didn't feel tired from climbing the stairs. If anything I felt energized. It happened every time I climbed those stairs. I placed Kira on the ground and stretched to work out any possible knots that may have started forming.

Mid-stretch I noticed that there were five other Heart's Songs coming from inside the temple besides Grandma's. Grams didn't mention having other people over when I spoke to her on the phone Sunday night. Huh? My eyes widened in surprise when I realized that I knew four of the five Heart's Songs already. What the hell are Hiei, Shuichi, Kazuma, and Yusuke doing here? Shuichi did say that the four of them knew Grams. Maybe they're visiting?

The moment that thought popped in my head I tossed it out. Something told me that they weren't here for a mere visit. What that something was exactly I couldn't say, but it said they were here for another reason. Guess I'll find out soon enough why they're here. Not to mention find out who that other person is. Now that I think about it, whoever they are, their energy is like Hiei's.

I lost my train of thought when the door opened and saw Grandma Genkai.

"Grandma Genkai!" Kira yelled and ran to our grandmother to give her a hug.

Smiling, I shook my head at Kira's exuberance. Again I wondered how the hell she managed to run in a kimono. I've worn my share of kimonos over the years and still have yet to find a way to run in one without falling flat on my face. There seems to be an exact art to it that I haven't mastered.

The two of them hugged and Grams spoke to me, "Well are you going to come over here and greet me or just stand there smiling like a twit all day?"

My smile grew, I could tell she was only teasing me. "You know I was just waiting for Kira to hug you first. I know better than to get between her and whoever she wants to hug. Getting trampled isn't on my list of things-to-do-today." I responded as I walked over to her and hugged her.

"It's so good to see you again after so long Grams." I said in a quiet voice. It was only now, while I was hugging her, that my brain finally registered that I was with my grandmother for the first time in nearly a year. I was so happy that I was having trouble trying not to cry tears of joy.

"It's good to see you too Ayla." she replied in an equally quiet voice, just before we separated. In a normal tone of voice she said, "I see you have a new kimono Kira. You look lovely."

Giggling Kira answered, "Thank you Grandma Genkai! Ayla bought it for me when we were on our way to the bus station. But you should see the kimono that she got herself. It's really beautiful!"

Raising an eyebrow at me Grams just said one word, "Really?"

Blushing, I was about to respond when a male voice spoke, "You got yourself a kimono Natura?"

Being called by my last name threw me enough that I couldn't place the voice at first. Looking at the doorway I saw Shuichi, Kazuma, Yusuke, who were all wearing jeans with t-shirts, although Shuichi had a jacket on, Hiei in the same clothes I had seen him in last, and a girl I didn't recognize wearing a kimono.

All my focus was on the girl after I saw her. Her hair was an aqua-teal like color with part of it held back in a ponytail with some kind of red ribbon. And she had crimson eyes. Seeing another person with crimson eyes was a bit surprising. Her eyes are just like Hiei's. Except hers have a gentleness to them that his don't. The kimono she was wearing was made up of a light blue outer robe, red inner robe, and a dark blue obi. She's beautiful, and her Heart's Song is one of the gentlest I've ever heard.

"Hey are you listening to me?"

I looked at Yusuke, having realized that it was him that had spoken and called me by my last name. "I'm sorry. Did you say something? I wasn't listening." I smirked as I spoke.

"Why you little..." He started towards me but stopped as Shuichi put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yusuke, calm down. Ayla, please try to not antagonize Yusuke." Shuichi said.

Sighing Grandma Genkai said, "Asking her not to antagonize people is pointless."

"How come?" Kazuma asked.

"Because there are things about a person you can only find out about them if you either annoy them or make them mad." I answered.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Yusuke yelled.

Raising an eyebrow I replied, "If you don't know what it means then you have to figure it out on your own."

"Sissy, I know Shuichi, but who are the others?" Kira asked.

"Well, the one with the slicked black hair is Yusuke Urameshi. The one with the carrot-top red hair is Kazuma Kuwabara. And the guy with the hair in the shape of a black flame with a white star burst is Hiei. As to who the girl is, I'm just as clueless as you are." I told her.

The girl came forward and bowed saying, "My name is Yukina. It's very nice to meet the both of you."

So she's Yukina. I smiled and bowed in return, "I'm Ayla, it's very nice to meet you too Yukina."

"I'm Kira! Can I hug you Yukina?" Kira said excitedly.

Yukina looked surprised at first then she smiled, "I'd like that."

"Kira loves giving hugs." I told Yukina as Kira hugged her.

"You need to change into your kimono Ayla." Kira said.

I blinked in response, "Huh?"

Her next words reminded me of what she meant. "You promised to change into your new kimono once we got to Grandma Genkai's remember?"

"But that was before I knew any of the male species would be here." I said glancing at the guys.

Grams chuckled, "You're still going to change into it anyways though aren't you?"

"Well of course. After all, I did promise Kira and I'll be damned if I ever break a promise." I responded intensely.

"Then let's all go inside. I need to talk to the two of you after you get changed Ayla." Grams led the way follwed by Yukina, Kira, and myself.

I just hope I don't look too bad. Why the hell am I worried about how I'll look? I never worry about that, so why am I now? Glancing at the guys again as we headed inside I noticed Hiei was staring at me. Maybe the reason you're worried is because Hiei will be seeing you in a kimono? Hush up self! I don't care what he thinks about how I look. Liar! I could feel myself blushing and looked at Yukina, "Um Yukina? Would you mind helping me with my kimono? I'm not very good when it comes to tying the obi."

"Of course Ayla." Yukina answered with a smile.

"Thanks." I couldn't help but return her smile. She's such a sweet girl. Once we were inside I took a moment to look around. Nice to see the place hasn't changed much.

"After you've changed Ayla come to the living room. There is much we need to talk about." Grams said.

"The living room, got it. And I agree, there is much we need to talk about." I replied.

"Come on sissy! You need to change!" Kira said grabbing my hand and dragging me down the hall.

I chuckled, "Ok, ok, slow down Pixie. We don't need to run like a fox with a hound on its trail." Looking over my shoulder I asked, "You coming Yukina?"

She nodded and started following us asking, "Do you know where you're going exactly?"

Kira stopped and I nearly crashed into her. "Oops. I forgot where our old rooms were." Kira told her.

Smiling Yukina answered, "That's alright. Genkai showed me where they were so I could show you to them if you had forgotten. Please follow me." She lead us down one of the many hallways in the temple, stopping at one of the doors. "This is your room Ayla. Kira's is right across the hall from yours." Yukina told us.

"Thanks for showing us the way Yukina. Been so long since I was last here my memory was a bit foggy." I said.

"Shall we get you changed into your kimono?"

"Yes! We get her changed now!" Kira chirped. Before I could say anything she dragged me into my room. Yukina giggled as she followed us inside, closing the door.

Changing into the kimono didn't take long with both Yukina and Kira's help. "I probably look terrible." I mumbled.

Yukina's confusion was evident in her voice when she asked, "Why would you think such a thing Ayla? You're beautiful."

Shaking my head I answered, "You're beautiful Yukina. But me? The best I can do is be pretty when I dress nice."

"Do you not have confidence in how you look?" she asked obviously trying to understand me.

I shrugged, "It's not that I don't have confidence in how I look, it's just...How to put this? I don't exactly care about how I look. You saw what I was wearing when I got here. Guys' jeans that are loose and a t-shirt that's big enough to go past my rear. I dress in what I feel comfortable in. The clothes I wear aren't what society says is attractive, or in style. Fancy clothes like this kimono aren't my thing. Though I certainly prefer them over most fancy clothes. I'm just not meant to wear clothes that are for girls, so I don't bother most of the time." I sighed, "Besides I doubt anyone would think I was even pretty if they saw my real eye color." Right after I said that I stiffened. Shit. I wasn't supposed to mention that.

"What do you mean Ayla?" Yukina asked.

"She's talking about the color her eyes are without the colored contacts that she is wearing."

Both Yukina and I looked at the door seeing Grandma Genkai standing there. It was then that I realized Kira was missing from the room. "How long have you been there Grams?" I asked.

"Long enough to hear you talk about what you think of your looks. Kira came and got me a while ago." she replied. The look she was giving me said she thought I was being a bit of an idiot. "Take your contacts out."

"What?" I asked, blinking at her.

"I want you to take your contacts out. I know why Aya and Natala have you wear them now, but I don't like it. When you are here I want you to remove them as soon as possible. Is that understood?" she said in that no-nonsense way of hers'.

For a few moments I just stared at her, then I nodded. "I understand Grandma Genkai."

"Good. Kira is in the living room with the boys, which is where I will be as well. Yukina would you please get some tea for everyone?"

"Of course Genkai." Yukina answered.

The two of them left and I stood there looking at the door. With a sigh I went into the bathroom that was connected to my room and stood at the sink, looking in the mirror. So Grams doesn't like me wearing the contacts eh? Nice to know I'm not the only one. Good thing I brought the case and drops with me.

I removed my glasses, setting them to the side, and removed my contacts. "Man it feels good not having those damn things in." The contacts were placed in their case and I put some drops in my eyes to moisten them from the contacts being removed. Putting my glasses back on I looked in the mirror once more and blinked in surprise. Wow this kimono brings out my eyes a lot. I look better than I thought I would.

"Well, time to leave the safety of my room and face everyone." I grumbled. I left my room and headed to the living room, part of me curious and part of me worried. Just relax Ayla. Nothing to worry about. I was lying to myself and I knew it. This would be the first time that anyone outside of my family had seen my real eye color since we had moved to Japan.

This is crazy. I'm more worried about how they'll react to my true eye color than I am about what the hell has been happening to me lately.

The door to the living room was closed and I was standing just outside of it. Here goes nothing I suppose. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, I opened the door and braced myself for everyone's reactions.