Summer Snow

curiouzkatt: I am sooo having a bad headache…. So sorry if this one took longer than it should have been posted…. I'm kinda thinking of stopping… this is becoming original fanfic already…. rinsaku Kimura -san

Disclaimer: curiouzkatt: zzzzzzzzzz…..

WHACK!!

curiouzkatt: I DON"T OWN SAIYUKI!!

katt: man! Why do I get hit so much?

Sanzo: because you keep trying to own copyrighted characters!

katt: you're being mean!

Sanzo: I'm just telling the truth!

katt: hage!

Sanzo: do you want another bump on your head?!

Hakkai: ; maa, maa! Here's chapter eight!

Chapter Eight: Training

Mayumi stared at the puddle of water in front of her. It was Monday afternoon and she was at the rooftop of the school with Mili, Zeia and Linlin– trying to practice. With Goku still at detention, they had time to spare before going home. She had agreed to train, but she didn't like the idea of summoning her powers.

"Mayumi.. are you even listening to me?" Linlin's voice tore through her thoughts. "You need to focus more!" She looked at her friend then hung her head, mumbling an apology.

"Hey! Aren't you just a bit demanding here?" Mili burst out, stepping on the puddle and causing it to ripple. "You know Mayumi can't concentrate easily!"

"But she must try!" Linlin shot back, checking her temper. Nothing would happen if both of them flew into rage. "Zeia and I won't always be there to protect you! The first step to controlling your powers is finding your center! If you find your center, mastery and control will follow!"

"And how do you know all that?" Mili asked, her voice still not toning down. "You don't have powers like us! You have no idea how we feel about having this kind of power with constant fear that we might blow up the next person!" she shook her head. "Kusanagi must've been misled all this time!" her friend wasn't reacting. "And you're not the boss of us either! What makes you think we'll follow you just because you say so? You're just a spoiled rich kid who can't get over her brother's death!" She clapped a hand over her mouth. She didn't mean to say that! To her surprise, Linlin just turned around and walked away. Only her footsteps and the opening and closing of the metal door were heard. Zeia and Mayumi were quiet as well.

"Mili! That was plain mean.." Mayumi scolded. "It wasn't like you at all!" Mili just hung her head. The door opened and closed again and they were left alone. "We don't really know what happened to her brother back then.. we don't know why she really is in so much pain." Mayumi felt her ears grow hot she had never been this angry about anything before.

"Yes, that's true, but you know, sometimes, I just can't help but feel that I envy her." Mili muttered, scoffing at the floor. "Despite all this pain, she's so lucky with what she has and she acts like this. It annoys me at times. Alex is dead, but we're not. It's like she buried herself with him already. It hurts to see her like this."

Mayumi mulled this over. "True, but that wasn't what you said."

"I know..."

Zeia found Linlin by the foot of the staircase and sat beside her. She took note of the ice bolts protruding at strange angles on all the walls of the path. Linlin was still quiet.

"She had a point though…" the sudden voice made her jump slightly. "Who am I to lead?"

"You are someone who understands your friends although they don't think you do," Zeia answered. "Having gone through what they're going through, you know what has to be done." She paused. "I really thought you were going to lose it up there…"

Linlin scoffed. "I almost did… if my uncle hadn't taught me how to keep a rein on my temper – I would have."

"And I would've lost another family…."

Linlin glanced at Zeia, wanting to apologize. She remembered the dream she had about Zeia's past and all the emotions involved in it. She had woken up with ice bolts all over her bedroom.

"Zeia! Zeia!" Mili yelled, slamming the door open. "It's Mayumi!" Zeia quickly ran up back to the rooftop, followed closely by Linlin. It turns out that Mayumi had somehow managed to turn her hair into a spectrum of colors.

"I can't turn it back!" Mayumi cried, tears brimming in her eyes. She was panicking. "What if it's stuck like this forever?"

Forgetting the current problems, Linlin started giving out instructions to her friend. "Mayumi… calm down!" she said firmly, holding her friend's hand encouragingly. "Allow yourself to relax and think of your hair back to normal! Calm down…"

Mayumi followed what her friend was telling her, closing her eyes and took deep breaths. She wasn't sure if this was going to work, but her previous panicking wasn't going to help in any way. She tried to feel for her magic, and imagined her hair slowly turning back to normal.

"You did it Mayumi!" she heard Mili cry and finally opened her eyes, seeing for herself that she had indeed done it. She looked at Linlin who had already walked off a distance from her. She saw the she was glad, but she walked away from them for the second time.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Mili called out as they parted ways. It was cool what her friend could do and couldn't wait to try out her powers. She stopped. She didn't know how…. They needed Linlin. She sighed. She was wrong to have said what she had said and she had to apologize.

Mayumi walked dejectedly home. If it weren't for Linlin, she would've ended up shaving her head when she got home. Either that or her mom would send her to a boarding school. She absently patted a lamppost as she passed it. Her mother could be unfeeling sometimes….

Unknown to her, a ninja had been on top of that post. He had been watching her since she parted with her friends. He had to have something to report to his masters. He moved to follow, but his feet seemed stuck. Looking down, he found that his feet had turned to ice and soon, half of his body was frozen. He could no longer balance himself and fell into the dumpster below.

TLEET TLEET! TLEET TLEET!

"Oh no!" he muttered as he heard the engine of the garbage collector come nearer. He couldn't move! The ice had crept up to his arms – he was doomed.

"Okay! Haul 'er in!" he heard them say. He tried to yell, but he was already muted by the ice. Only Fate knew what would happen to him.

When the ice finally melted, he found himself in the city dumpsite – eight kilometers away. He sighed. "I should've taken up accounting…"

Goku searched for food he could easily nick and found just that on Gojyo's plate. He looked at the red head and pointed at his plate. "Are you going to eat that?" he didn't wait for a reply and devoured the food in an instant.

"Hey! I was going to eat that!" Gojyo complained, hitting the saru.

"Itai! But I'm still hungry!"

"You're always hungry!"

Hakkai smiled and sweatdropped, trying to stop the bickering two before Sanzo got mad. He looked at the monk, but the man seemed oblivious to the two's arguing. He followed his gaze and realized that the monk was observing Linlin who had been acting strange ever since they picked her up from school that afternoon. As soon as he had thought of it, the girl stood up and left the room. He was quite positive that this was the situation Sanzo was complaining about and ignored him when Shun came out of the kitchen with a giant cake on a cart.

"Time for dessert!" he announced, accepting the help from Hakkai who distributed the cake to everyone. He looked around and didn't find Sanzo. He turned to the green-eyed man. "Where's Sanzo?"

"I don't know…" Hakkai fibbed, smiling at Shun. "He may have gone out to get some air."

"To get some air my ass…" Sanzo muttered under his breath as he slowly climbed the stairs to the main balcony. Why the hell did Kanzeon want him to talk to the girl? It wasn't his bloody problem! He stopped at the doorway and searched for the girl. She was on the far side of her own balcony. Leaning on the ledge, he took one of his Marlboros and started to smoke. Of all the people that he had met, this one who most denied emotions or any sign of weakness – almost kind of like him, but her weakness was blaming herself for the death of Alex.

"What do you want?" he heard her say, her voice sounding irritated. "Are you here to dump some Philosophy stuff on me?"

"No…" he mumbled, puffing out smoke. "Why should I? You wouldn't listen anyway – you never listen to anyone."

"I resent that…"

"Hn.." he stared at the half moon in the sky. "Always look beyond what you perceive."

Linlin felt the wind knocked out of her as she thought of those words over and over. Mili's actions, Zeia's words...

That's right… always look beyond. Hakkai had asked her why she still looked hurt. The answer seemed unfathomable at that time, but now, it seemed so near. She was still hurt because she let the past into the present, not leaving it where it should have been – a memory, a guide to the future. She relived the moment of her brother's death and blamed herself instead of seeing a lesson to it. Nothing in life will always be the same and nothing will always be fair and just. She felt a surge of chill run through her and realized that she had let her emotions out. Ice bolts surrounded her and it took all her will to stop them from flying in all directions. The ice tinkled as they fell and slowly melted away. She had to be more careful… she stood up and went inside her room, pausing at the doorway, looking at Sanzo. "Thanks."

"Ch!" Sanzo's cigarette had run out and he flicked it away. "I didn't do anything."

Linlin walked in the direction of the stairs that lead to the school's rooftop. Several feet away, she spotted Mili waiting. She stopped. Was her friend going to yell at her again? She moved to turn back and avoid confrontation.

"I didn't wait here to yell at you…" Mili started, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm… I'm here to apologize…" she watched as her friend scoff the floor sheepishly. "I didn't mean to say those things I said… it's just that I was freaked out… you know?" Linlin gave her friend a small smile and slung an arm over her shoulders. She could tell that her friend was a little surprised with the action. "S-so… are we cool?"

"Cooler than you'll ever know."

When they got to the top, Zeia had already started guiding Mayumi on how to focus. Linlin made Mili face her and grinned. "Your turn."

"What am I supposed to do?" Mili asked, her hands growing clammy. The last time she was this nervous was when she went onstage and danced a solo. "Try finding my center and all that stuff?"

"Yes."

She groaned and readied herself to concentrate. She followed what Linlin showed her, taking deep, even breaths, trying to think of nothing at all – then she felt it. A surge of power within her, the rage and strength of all the animals known on the planet. She gasped, falling to her knees as she tried to contain it, hearing Linlin's calm voice telling her to show who was in the power subsided, she looked at her hands, feeling it race inside of her…

"Wow…" she heard Mayumi say, clapping for her. "That was amazing!"

She smiled at her and thought…then what? She pointed this question at Linlin.

"We still don't know that ability of your power…" she confided. "Try something."

"Like what?" Mili asked, wiping sweat off her forehead. "It's not like I can blast demons like Hakkai!"

"She's got a point…" Zeia muttered thoughtfully, fingering her locket and looking at Linlin. "Any ideas?"

"Hmmm… how would you react if your life was threatened?" Linlin suggested. Mili sighed and shook her head. She knew she wouldn't be able to imagine it. She saw her friend raise her arms to shoulder level, pointed at her, "React to this!" she cried, as the air seemed to grow colder and ice bolts formed in the space between her hands. Fear took over Mili as her mind blacked out. She heard voices speaking to her, all at the same time, - none of them were clear but one…

She tried searching the darkness, looking for the voice…

"You are still weak!"

"Who are you?!" she called out, but the voice didn't answer. She felt someone behind her, making her wheel around and faced a giant feline face – a lioness.

"You cannot contain me yet!"

"Miil! STOP!" Mili snapped awake at the voice of her friends and realized that she had Linlin pinned down to the ground with her – paws? What was going on? She slowly backed away from Linlin, looking at herself, bending left and right. She was a lion. She looked at her friends who stared at her fearfully.

You can feel it… can't you?" the voice within her uttered. The fear from your prey! Her heart was starting to beat faster as a thirst for blood came to her mind. She closed her eyes… she was losing to it!

"Don't let it take over!" Linlin yelled, forcing her to think – focus. "Turn yourself back! Calm down!" she slowly felt herself turning back, shrinking back to her original self. She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. She could feel her friends' tensed emotions go down.

"I think that was a bit too extreme, Linlin…" Zeia said, helping the blonde up on her feet. Mili then noticed that Linlin's arms were bleeding. She gasped in horror. Did she do that?

"Linlin! I didn't mean to!" she cried, rushing to her friend and holding her arms, examining the wounds. "We have to get you to the clinic!" Her friend jerked her arms away from her grasp.

"I'm fine…" Linlin muttered, bringing out a first aid kit from her bag. She was surprised that her friend had one. She walked over and volunteered to clean and dress the wounds. It was her fault after all. Linlin quietly watched her. "And besides… what would we tell the nurse? That we got attacked on the rooftop?"

Mili laughed quietly. "You have a point…"

"This is too much excitement for one day!" Mayumi exclaimed, raising her arms to the sky. Moments later, pieces of paper fell from the sky, almost covering the four girls under. She looked at the other three sheepishly. "Sorry…"

Zeia took one of the papers and realized that it was their killer science test that afternoon. Her eyes widened and looked at her "student". "You have to put them back!" she said, showing the paper to Mayumi.

"But I don't know how!' she cried.

"Remember what I taught you!" Zeia insisted and watched Mayumi close her eyes calmly and let her magic flow out and onto the test papers. But instead of retuning, she had managed to stack the papers neatly. Mili checked them and announced that they were arranged alphabetically, per class and per year level. She glanced at the sun that was halfway down the horizon. "It's not what I expected… but it'll have to do.." she took her pack from the corner. "We have to leave for now… it's getting late." As they made their way out of the building, they heard various rumors from passing practice teachers that all the test papers in the faculty had vanished. Some say that a ghost had done it, and some still, said that a monster ate them. That would've been possible in Togenkyo, but in this world, they will force to think of a logical explanation in their own terms. She quietly snapped her fingers, returning the test papers to their proper places. She grinned to herself, imagining the shocked expression of the teachers when they find the test papers back.

"There you are, Linlin!' Hakkai exclaimed, greeting them by the hallway to the school's front yard. "We were getting worried! What happened to your arms?'

"Nothing.." Linlin answered frankly.

"If you say so… but I'll still have a look at those wounds when we get home." Hakkai looked at the other three. "We can escort you ladies as well if you'd like…"

Zeia shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, Hakkai," she said. "But my house isn't that far from here. I'll just walk." She heard Mili and Mayumi turn down Hakkai's offer and they were soon on their way home. None of the two were in the mood to talk. Who would, when they just went through an afternoon of learning how to control themselves from "not blowing up the next person"? The wind called to her as it gently passed, caressing her hair and face. This place was so peaceful… but it could never compare to Togenkyo, even though it was chaotic at that moment. Reaching home, she was greeted by her mother who gave her a warm hug.

"How come you're late?" her brother Tenro scowled at her, demanding an answer. "It's not like they dumped you with test papers!"

You don't know half of it… Zeia thought, ignoring her little brother completely and entered her room, lying down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was kind of strange to have a family again… somehow, she felt like a secret agent, acting like a daughter to this unsuspecting family. But it wasn't the case. The gods in Tenkai had arranged this so she can search for the answers she was looking for, but she knew that it would also hurt her when the time to part with this family would come.

ZZAAP!

The sudden lightning hit the electric post outside and the house was suddenly engulfed in darkness. She snapped her fingers and the candle across the room lit up. She flopped back down. What was going to happen next?

Sanzo faced his class that morning with his reading glasses on and a piece of paper from the principal. Some of the girls had fainted again, but he ignored it. He hit the table with his pointer to make the class quiet then cleared his throat.

"The principal wishes to tell all of you that all your tests yesterday will be marked invalid," he began, rereading the note while his students whined their complaints. "It appears that someone had played a prank yesterday afternoon and hid the said papers all over the school, then put them back."

"What will happen to those poor delinquents?" Maria asked, using her sweetest voice, as if to charm the un-charm-able Genjo Sanzo-sama who reread the paper once again.

"Nothing." He replied to his student, putting down the paper on his table. "Someone will simply investigate on who did it… and that's it… the papers weren't tainted… they were simply displaced." Sanzo explained then tapped his pointer on his other hand. "Any more questions?"

"Just one sir!" Miles spoke up, raising his hand. "When they catch those delinquents, aren't they going to ask why they did such as thing as that? Something like what's their cause and what would be the effect?"

"There is no such thing as cause and effect…" Sanzo answered and started to write the name "Hume" on the board. "Because impressions are separate from each other." He said and looked at his class. "That is our lesson for today by the way…"

The whole class groaned at Sanzo's statement as he started to explain the philosophy of Hume. Mayumi wasn't paying attention. She was nervous… what if they found out that she was the one responsible? Her friends would get mixed up in it! And she doesn't think that the tables would turn in their favor this time. Just as she had thought of it, all the tables gave a funny jump. Everyone in the room thought it was an earthquake. The P.A. system turned on.

"Announcement…. Your tests will be valid again…." The principal announced. "Someone has confessed of doing this prank and he has already been forgiven. No further questions shall be asked about it. PERIOD!" Mayumi winced and the feedback their principal's voice created. Who had admitted the fault? Most importantly, why?

Due to the previous accidents their P.E. teacher had, they were now always being sent to the library to research on things that were actually in the curriculum. As they walked to the library, they saw several boys carrying a paper imitation of a ninja. They all found this unusual and went on their way, not noticing that a pair of eyes watched them.

Petting Hakuryu, Hakkai watched as the clothes in the dryer turned and tumbled. Mrs. Kazuya had taught him how to use it and he thought it was quite convenient. This world had so many interesting things and he slightly wished he could learn more. The dryer gave off a sound as it stopped and the clothes settled to its bottom. Hakuryu flew off and perched on top of the dryer as Hakkai took out the clothes and put them in a laundry basket.

"Ah, I see that you're done, Hakkai…" he looked at the doorway and smiled at Linlin's mother. "Let me take those outside."

"I'll do it…" he volunteered, but Mrs. Kazuya would hear none of it and ordered him to prepare tea.

"Why did you do it?" Mayumi demanded from Blue who was grinning at her. "Why did you claim doing that?" The blue-haired boy just kept smiling at her and brought out a gizmo out of his backpack.

"I did it because I had nothing to lose! I just told her I was experimenting on another gadget… and that was it…" he answered and handed her a green headband. "Here… it's a communicator." He explained, and handed Zeia a hair clip, Mili a ring and Linlin a pendant. "It operates with the power within!" he was starting to sound like an advertiser. "Isn't that a fantastic offer? Only at the price of not getting in trouble!"

"Gee... in our situation... that's a pretty high price!" Linlin said sarcastically, handing the pendant back to blue. "I already have a pendant and I don't like any other."

Blue grinned at her. "I knew you were going to say something like that!" he dug into his pocket and produced a pair of crystal orange earrings. "So I made these..." he looked at Linlin's ears. "You do have a place for these… don't you?"

Linlin rolled her eyes, took the earrings and put them through the piercing of her ears just as Jei and Haku opened the door to the rooftop. They didn't look very happy.

"You guys should be more careful!" he scolded them at once, showing them pictures from the hidden surveillance cameras. "If we weren't the ones in charge with security, you guys would've been busted long ago." Zeia took the pictures from him and used her magic to turn the photos into new images. It was still them, but they weren't doing their training. Mayumi stared dreamily at Zeia, wishing she could do the same.

"We understand…" Linlin said and thanked Jei, The young sleuth had a funny look on his face and she noted on it, only to make his cheeks red. "What's wrong with you?"

Haku noticed the speechlessness of his partner and thought of a quick fib. "Er, we still have to… go… settle that paranormal activity this morning!" Haku said quickly and pulled Jei to the door to the stairs.

"But, didn't we fix that already – ow!" Blue rubbed his rib cage and glared at Vincent whose purple eyes told him to shut up. "But – ow!" This time it was Yuri on his other side. "Hey! I'm not a poking bag!"

"See you guys around!" Haku called, closing the door. He turned to his partner. "What is wrong with you? You just saw Linlin and those…" then it hit him. "…orange earrings!" he slyly grinned at Jei who did his best ignoring him as they walked down. "The color blue is beautiful on its own and so is orange!" Haku was much more cheerful than usual.

"So? What's your point?" Jei said, refusing to look at Haku. "It doesn't have anything to do with our case!"

"But in my case, it does!" Haku exclaimed, following his friend like a happy puppy.

"What case?"

"The mysterious mood of Jei Murikawa!" Haku said then thought of spilling it out. "Around a certain short-haired blonde with sapphire blue eyes…"

"Haku?"

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor and shut up!"

"Oww… that hurts!" Haku said, making his voice pitiful. "It's one of my rarest moods!"

"And a good reason it should stay rare!" Jei muttered as they exited the school. He just wished his friend would go back to his serious mood already.

"Hey, did you know that orange and blue are contrasting colors?" Haku said and when he got a 'so what', he continued. "Blue brings out orange… and orange makes blue even more beautiful!" he exclaimed and started to tease. "Someone's got a crush!"

"Hey! Careful with that thing!" Mili cried as she avoided the floating giant ball of ice Linlin had conjured. They had decided that Mayumi's power was less dangerous than hers… but at this rate, facing another lion might be easier. "Someone might get crushed!" She watched as her friend successfully broke down the ball into smaller pieces and make it vanish. "Hey, where'd you let it disappear to?" she asked, amazed at how her friend executed all that flawlessly.

Mayumi shrugged. "I don't know…"

Not too far away, the ninja's teeth chattered with cold. He wasn't very lucky with this job and he's had it!

"Okay, Mili… it's your turn," Zeia called to her, making her start a little.

"Are you sure?" she asked, uncertain she won't turn into a lion again.

"Positive."

"Let's just try something easier," Linlin said, looking around. "How about trying to fly?"

"Um, I d-don't…" Mili started, but then took a deep breath and tried to focus.

"Think of what you will turn into…" she heard Linlin's voice, then tried to think of the wind, wanting to fly to the sky, and just let the wind take her to the infinite blue. She felt the change happening, tested her wings and took off.

The ninja bid his time and waited until the girl flew close. He grabbed her tight and showed himself to her friends. "You Feared Children are going down!"

Sanzo made his way through the empty maze-like corridors of the school, looking for Linlin and her friends. They had to stop wandering on their own! The enemy could attack from any angle possible! He tisked. He was taking his role as a teacher too seriously…

"You don't understand!"

He stopped in his tracks. Someone was still there! He peeked round the corner and spotted the English teacher and the coach talking in a suspicious way. He waited for the other to speak.

"It had to be done!" the woman said, glaring fiercely at the coach.

"You wasted over forty of our men and that's all you have to say!?" that coach spat back. "'It had to be done!'" he quoted. "But nothing happened! We just lost! I'm telling you… we should analyze what these Feared Children can do!"

The other teacher scoffed. "Right… Just send one ninja to spy on them…" she drawled. "But your ninja never returned! Nothing happened there either!"

"I specifically told him not to come back until he had gathered all the necessary data!"

"Excuses!"

Sanzo decided to leave, but felt a katana pressed against the back of his neck. The ninja took his gun and led him to the teachers.

"Well, well…what do we have here?" Miss Mala said, looking him over. "The new teacher.. Mr. Genjo Sanzo!" she shook her head. "So handsome and yet so nosy… a pity you have to die..."

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you live…" said the coach confidently. Sanzo took this opportunity to take out the ninja with its own katana and retrieve his gun. He cocked his gun at the coach.

"Right back at you…"

TZIING!

Crows in nearby trees flew in alarm, alerting the four girls on the rooftop and the three members of the Sanzo-ikko at the grounds. Zeia was quick on her feet and was gone in a moment. The other three followed with Mayumi carrying something in her hands. They saw Hakkai and Gojyo running to the direction of the sound of the gunshot and called to them.

"Hakkai!"

Hakkai turned to find three of the four girls catching up to them and slowed down. "What's the matter?" he was even more puzzled when Mayumi handed him a piece of food. Rice with a slice of raw fish on top. He gave them a questioning look.

"Well, you, see, we were practicing on the rooftop…" Mili began breathlessly.

"When this ninja came out of nowhere!" Mayumi added. "I – I panicked and…"

"You turned him into sushi!?" Gojyo finished, disbelieving his own conclusion. "Quick! Keep it before – "

"Harahetta! Is that some food?"

"Goku! No!"

The sushi disappeared in a split second. Gojyo reacted immediately and tried any method possible just to make Goku spit it out. "Choke it out saru!" he yelled, but it seemed to become futile by the moment. "You don't chew your food! Spit it out!"

Goku got loose from Gojyo's grasp and looked indignant. "I always chew my food!" he said. "How else would I not get indigestion?"

A loud crashing noise that was followed by an earth shattering quake knocked them off their feet brought them back to the still unknown situation at hand. Goku ran ahead of them until they got to the end of the left wing, which was mostly destroyed by the giant sphinx like being that now stood there. The whole place reeked of demonic energy that they could almost taste it… but if it was a scent, it would have probably been something really awful. Zeia was already there, very much on the alert. Goku went to Sanzo's side and got whacked by the infamous paper fan.

"Itai! What was that for?" Goku complained, pouting at the monk.

"You're late,"

As if agreeing with him, the sphinx brought up its large paw and swiped at them with its claws.