[A/N: It's Friday and I'm updating on time! Go me! Don't forget to review my lovely lovelies!]

Chapter Six: Beat It, Just Beat It

"I'm just saying, Kairi orchestrated the whole sticking Goldie the fish down your pants herself. I was hardly involved," Yusuke said.

"You were the one who started chanting 'Fish Penis' over and over again," Uryu said.

Yusuke chuckled. "Yeah. That I did do. But you can't blame me for taking an awesome joke and running with it can you?"

"I can, actually," Uryu said.

"Just remember this conversation whenever you think they're horrible to you," Keiko said to Hiei.

"I'll make a note of it," Hiei replied.

"Hey, Ichigo, the spot on your face is starting to get redder," Chad said.

Ichigo raised his hand to his face and touched his finger to a spot on his cheek where a red welt seemed to be growing.

"What happened?" I asked him.

Ichigo chuckled. "Yukina happened."

"It was all an accident. They showed up just as I was finishing kendo practice. Ichigo used to take kendo when he was a kid so he wanted to see if he was still any good since he was so out of practice," Yukina said.

"Because you just don't get practice in using a zanpakto every day," Uryu said rolling his eyes.

"Since I'm so inexperienced we thought it'd be funny for to go a round with him," Yukina said.

"Except it turns out Yukina's really good! And she's really quick too. If she had a real sword she'd have cut off his head for sure," Orihime said.

"All right, Yukina!" Kuwabara cheered.

"And now we know what to get you for your birthday," Yusuke said. ". . . When is your birthday?"

"My birthday?" Yukina asked. She thought for a moment. "I know it's soon. . . November. . . November. . ."

"Twenty-first," Hiei said, phrasing it almost like a question.

"Yeah! How'd you know?" Yukina asked.

"Lucky guess," Hiei said.

"It's like you're a mind reader or something," I said

"You're so hilarious," Hiei said.

"I knew you were gonna say that," I said.

"Why? Because you're psychic?" Hiei asked.

"Yep," I said. Then Yusuke started to giggle.

"What?" Keiko asked.

"Did you ever notice," he chuckled, "how booby trap spelled backwards is party boob?"

". . . You're right but how. . . Never mind," Kurama said.

"Also, taco cat backwards is still taco cat," Yusuke said. "I don't know what to do with this information now that I have it."

"Kairi, let's go get something to drink," Keiko said taking my arm. "We'll be back when you're done being five-years-old, Yusuke."

"Not gonna happen," he said.

Keiko took me over to the drink table and I grabbed a bottle of water.

"So, Ichigo," Keiko started, "he seems nice."

"Well, he's too good for me as my mother repeatedly pointed out," I said.

"Oh, nonsense. He's great," Keiko said. "He's cute too. And tall."

I let out a sigh. "I am deeply infatuated by his arms."

"His arms are almost as big as me!" Keiko said.

"I know! I thought Trunks was a physically impressive guy, and Hiei's not very tall, but he's not much of a disappointment at all, but Ichigo is just. . . I don't know," I said.

"The word Adonis comes to mind," Keiko said.

"I don't know what that means, but okay," I said. "He's gorgeous and he's nice and he's smart and I have no idea what he sees in me. I'm so mean and obnoxious and stupid."

"You're not that stupid and you're only slightly obnoxious and you've gotten considerably less mean," Keiko said. "And you're pretty."

"Does it really matter if I'm good looking if I'm still an asshole?" I asked. "Isn't that the problem with Hiei?"

"I thought the problem with Hiei was that he just disappeared after he showed up in your room?" Keiko asked.

"I'm sorry—do you have a different definition of an asshole?" I asked.

"True, although assholes aren't all bad. Look at Yusuke after all," Keiko said.

"Yeah. I guess it's entirely possible to be an asshole and be a sweetheart if your name is Yusuke Urameshi," I said. "There's no hope for the rest of us."

"Come on, Ichigo likes you just fine," Keiko said. "Aren't you glad I forced you into going out with him?"

"I suppose. And he hasn't gotten into it with Hiei yet, so that's good too, especially since those two will probably kill each other with the slightest provocation," I said.

"So you think Hiei's still into you?" Keiko asked.

"Hard to tell. He's still the same as he always is. The only reason I even had a clue before was because he was making out with me," I said.

"Among other things," Keiko giggled. I shoved her. "Oh, come on. I was just joking."

"Well my parents are here and Ichigo's here and I'd prefer that information not get around," I said.

"You mean Ichigo doesn't know about you and Hiei?" Keiko whispered.

"Not to that extent. No one does except you," I said. "Not even Yusuke."

". . . You didn't tell Yusuke?" she asked turning away from me. Suddenly I was stricken with fear.

"Keiko. . . Please tell me you didn't relay that information to your boyfriend," I said.

"I thought you told him! He acted like he knew! You tell him everything anyway," Keiko said.

"And so do you apparently," I said.

"He's my boyfriend. Of course I do," Keiko said. "We don't keep secrets after the whole Spirit Detective Maze Castle fiasco and like I said, you tell him everything anyway. How was I supposed to know?"

I sighed. So Yusuke knew about my unexpected encounter with Hiei. This was a problem because despite being my best friend, Yusuke was, as previously stated, an asshole. This information was going to come up at the worst possible time either to humiliate me or to blackmail me into silence.

"I'm sorry," Keiko said.

"Yeah, me too," I said. "I guess I should go back over there before he ruins my life."

"Oh! You have a ping pong table!" I heard Yukina say excitedly.

"No!" Keiko exclaimed before taking off to our friends.

I followed her to find her with her hands on Yukina's shoulders.

"We agreed at the tournament that you would never play again," Keiko said. "You promised, Yukina. Never again."

"What's going on?" Kurama asked.

"There was an incident at the tournament with the ping pong table in the lobby," Keiko said. "There were tears involved."

"You made Keiko cry?" Yusuke asked.

"Actually it was Rinku from Team Rokuyukai. . . And Jin from Team Masho. . . And Shishi Wakamaru-."

"Okay, I want to play ping pong with Yukina," Goten said tossing an arm around her. "Who else is in? We can do teams."

"I'll play," Ichigo volunteered.

"What about you, Hiei? You never play any games with us," Yukina said, clearly wanting nothing more than to encourage him to be a part of the group.

"And I don't plan to start today," he said.

For a moment Yukina frowned, but then she half smiled. "Oh, come on, Hiei. Now is not the time to chicken out—now is the time to shine."

Our whole group was enveloped in silence for a moment as we let Yukina's words sink in.

"Did. . . Did you just call me a chicken?" Hiei asked, obviously the most confused of us all.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that you don't want to play ping pong against a girl and I didn't know what else to call you," Yukina said.

My jaw dropped.

"Yukina, I don't like you when you're like this," Keiko said.

"I am not a chicken," Hiei said.

"Then why won't you play?" Yukina asked.

"I don't want to," he said.

"It's fine, Hiei. If you're scared then you don't have to make excuses," Yukina said casually.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I don't know. But it's awesome," Yusuke said.

"It's like sibling rivalry, but only Hiei's in on it," Kurama said.

"I'm not scared," Hiei said.

"Look, you can be on my team that way you don't have to be afraid of losing," Yukina said.

Hiei was completely red in the face. If it had been anyone else he'd have told her off already, but it was Yukina, the one person on the planet he was unable to scold.

"Fine," Hiei said giving in.

"This is a really bad idea," Keiko said as they walked over to the table. "Yukina is not herself in competitive situations. She gets all scary and mean. Aren't you curious about how she got serious enough to hit Ichigo in the face with a kendo stick?"

". . . That does seem out of character," Kurama said.

"We'll be Team Dragon because I can't think of anything better," Goten said.

"And we'll be Team Sea Slug!" Yukina cheered.

"We are not Team Sea Slug!" Hiei said.

". . . Go Team Sea Slug!" Yukina said, ignoring Hiei.

"She seems normal and adorable," I said.

"Just wait. This is gonna get ugly," Keiko said. "She's gonna make your boyfriend and little brother cry. Maybe even Hiei."

"That'd be a sight," Yusuke said.

"You know, Genkai did say that it'd be pretty good for her to go into sports at school. She also said that Yukina was our problem now which in retrospect was a very odd choice of words," Kurama said.

The game seemed to start innocently enough. Goten served first. For about ten seconds there was a delightful back and forth when suddenly Yukina hit the ball so quickly and with so much force that Hiei, Ichigo, and Goten all stopped moving.

"The first point belongs to Team Sea Slug," Yukina said. "Now, do your worst."

"See what I mean?" Keiko asked.

I always knew that everyone had a bit of a dark side to them. Even sweet Keiko could knock the crap out of people who made her angry, but it never even occurred to me that Yukina might be that way. The similarities between her and her brother were few and far between from what I could tell—they were both short, had the same crimson colored eyes, but that was it. But here was Yukina, taunting Goten and Ichigo like they weren't even her friends. Her one goal was to win and she was extremely good.

The game ended with Team Sea Slug wiping the floor with Team Dragon 10 to 0.

As soon as Yukina scored the final point she tossed the paddle on the table and threw her hands up in the air.

"Yes! In your faces! One day I'm gonna tell your kids about this and then they'll never respect you!" she said mockingly.

"Ouch, that hurt my feelings," Yusuke said.

"I think she's awesome," Kuwabara said as Hiei went to calm his sister down.

"Sorry. I got carried away," Yukina said. "We should play again some times."

"No thanks," Goten said. "I'm gonna go over here and eat a whole plate of cookies. Excuse me."

Goten walked away from the table and Yukina stood there smiling as she high fived Hiei.

"Good game," Ichigo said. "No wonder you're so good at kendo."

"Not to mention your trash talking is excellent," Yusuke said. "You might even give me a run for my money."

Yukina chuckled. "Thanks, I guess. And you were great too, Hiei. We should definitely play again some time."

"As long as I'm on your team," he said.

"Well doesn't that just warm my heart," Kurama said.

"Quiet, fool," Hiei said.

"Why does Hiei seem so anxious?" Ichigo asked.

"Direct communication makes him uncomfortable," I said. "He doesn't like us after all."

"Not even a little bit," Hiei said.

"I don't know. I think you're all really cool guy. I think you should probably lighten up a bit, Hiei," Ichigo said.

"Don't tell me what to do," Hiei said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you or anything. If you want to be cranky that's your prerogative," Ichigo said.

Red flags were going up and I was starting to get some Dark Tournament déjà vu similar to Trunks and Hiei's first meeting. I should've told Ichigo to refrain from engaging Hiei in direct conversation. That would help avoid some problems.

"Thank you respecting my choices," Hiei said dismissively.

"Geez, you've got one bad attitude," Ichigo said.

"What a revelation that is," Hiei said.

"What's your problem?" Ichigo asked. "Were you not hugged enough as a child?"

"Yes, that's exactly right. Congratulations on figuring me out." Hiei said. "Would you like a cookie for your achievement?"

"No I don't want any cookies you condescending jackass!" Ichigo retorted.

"Hey, Kairi, in the future, try not to date people who are easily irritated by other people who are easily irritated," Yusuke said.

"Sorry, I forgot to give him a head's up about Hiei," I said.

The argument was close to progressing to a bad place, but it was cut short. A large amount of Spirit Energy had popped up causing everyone to take note.

"What is that?" Yukina asked.

"Definitely a hollow," Ichigo said. "But where is it?"

Ichigo's question was answered when a large monster came crashing in through the roof of the compound. It was enormous, towering at least six stories high, cloaked completely in black with only a white mask for a face.

"There's two!" Orihime said, pointing behind the other.

"I've got it," Ichigo declared. He then turned to me as he reached into his pocket to pull something out. "Don't step on me."

"What?" I asked, but a second later he was falling to the ground. His body was laying there, unmoving and yet at the same time Ichigo was standing there, clad completely in black with sandals and holding what looked like a giant, black cleaver.

The hollow that had come crashing in through the ceiling was building up a large ball of energy in its mouth. Just as it fired Orihime threw up a large, golden shield. The energy blast made direct contact with the shield, but the energy fazed out as it made contact. Ichigo, then leapt over her head and with one swing of his blade brought the hollow down. Then Uryu, stepped in, holding his arms up as if holding a bow and arrow, and that's just what appeared in his arms: the bow was tall and black and white, the arrow was made of pure energy glowing blue. He fired the arrow at the remaining hollow destroying it wholly.

Ichigo returned to his body, Orihime's shield came down and Uryu's bow and arrow vanished.

". . . Well, that was impressive," Dad said.

"I'm still not sure about what just happened," Keiko said.

"We just got attacked by two Menos Grandes," Ichigo said.

"It's unusual that they'd show up," Chad said. "Even with the increased levels of attacks that have been happening."

"Especially here in West City," Ichigo said.

That was when the smell of cigarette smoke filled my nostrils.