Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Discovery ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Yaten woke up groggily and felt more tired than he had ever experienced in his life. He went to the bathroom, eyes still closed. When he passed before the mirror of the bathroom, he stopped. He thought he saw something peculiar. He took a look. He blinked, rubbed his eyes and stared.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Yaten's scream of surprise shook the walls of the apartment.



--------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------

Taiki and Seiya were changing clothes in the guy's locker room when their cell phone rang. Since Taiki was the closest to it - Seiya still busy trying to put on his T-shirt - he took the call.

"Moshi-moshi?" Taiki took his ear from the phone as someone was yelling into it in a very excited voice.

"TAIKITAIKITAIKI... OHSTARSCOMEQUICKIGOTABIGBIGBIGBIGPROBLEM!!!!!"

"Whoa! Yaten! Slow down. I don't understand a word you're saying..." said Taiki. Seiya looked up.

"What's wrong?" asked Seiya. With a gesture, Taiki replied he didn't know.

"Oh Stars! Taiki you've got to come here!!! And bring Ami-chan with you!!!" said Yaten, trying to calm down. Stars! thought Taiki, his voice is so high when he's upset.

"I'll try but... what the heck is wrong?" asked Taiki.

"I CAN'T tell you on a damn cell phone anybody could be listening!!!!" said Yaten hysterically. Taiki looked at the phone, wondering why Yaten was acting so irrational all of a sudden.

"Okay... Calm down, I'm coming and bringing Ami-chan with me..." said Taiki, trying to calm down Yaten.



------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------

Yaten was pacing the apartment, unbelieving this was happening, not now. The key turned into the door and Taiki and Ami went in. Yaten waited for them, with a big blanket on.

"It's about time you guys got here." Yaten said angrily.

"Whoa! Yaten! Hold your horses and calm down... or else we're out of here..." replied Taiki, really annoyed at Yaten's bossy attitude. Ami closed the door behind her and Seiya.

"Yeah! What the heck was so important we had to leave class early?" asked Seiya.

"WHAT ABOUT THIS?" Yaten yelled letting the blanket drop. Yaten was wearing pajama pants but also a close fitting T-shirt. And they could see that Yaten was now female.

"What? You've gone female and you make us miss class because of THAT??" It was Taiki's turn to sound annoyed and angry.

"Not that!" replied Yaten. "The fact that I can't change back..."

"Yeah... so?" said Seiya also getting annoyed at Yaten's reactions.

"SO? SO?" screamed Yaten. "I have an appointment with Dr. Mizuno, this afternoon with Kurama. I can't go as a girl. She wanted to take more blood samples!!!!" Yaten's face was flushed by her anger.

"Oh no... " said Ami when she realized what Yaten was so upset about.

"Yeah, well, so what? You can disguise yourself as a guy easily and go to the darn appointment... What's the big problem?" asked Seiya, Taiki and Ami had turned pale as if they understood something that Seiya obviously didn't.

"Seiya, YOU BAKA!!!" screamed Yaten. "HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO DISGUISE MY BLOOD SAMPLE????"

"Huh?" Seiya was puzzled, Yaten threw her arms in the air groaning as she bolted back into her room, slamming the door. "WHAT? What did I say?"

"We do have a real situation here..." said Ami seriously, Taiki nodded gravely. "What are we going to do about it?" Seiya looked at them still not getting it. Ami and Taiki looked at each other, sighing. They seemed to have a silent conversation between them and finally Taiki spoke up.

"Seiya... Yaten is upset and with good reason." he started. "It's not the fact she can't change back so much as the blood sample that terrifies her."

"You see, Seiya-kun," added Ami. "Your blood make up changes dramatically when you change into a woman. My mother did take some blood from Yaten already and she's going to be asking a lot of questions when she sees that Yaten now has estrogen instead of testosterone in her blood."

"Oh Stars..." said Seiya as he slumped into the sofa.



-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

Kurama was surprised to see Seiya, Taiki and Ami in the apartment when he came by to pick up Yaten for their appointment with Dr. Mizuno.

"You guys don't have any classes?" asked Kurama as Taiki opened the door for him.

"Not really... Kurama, we have a situation here..." replied Taiki. He then proceeded to tell him what the problem was. Kurama had turned pale.

"Do you have any idea how that happened?" asked Kurama. Just then Sailor Mercury came out of Yaten's room.

"I've checked Yaten. It seems you do need a small percentage of your strength at all times to keep the disguise on, don't you?" She asked Taiki and Seiya. They both nodded. She sighed, "then I think I know why Yaten can't change back. Mononucleosis leaves most people tired and without much strength. I can only guess that Yaten doesn't have any of the strength needed to keep up the disguise... Which may also indicate that she can't tap into her powers for the time being, leaving her completely powerless. If there is an attack, Yaten won't stand much more chance than a normal human being."

"Nice..." grumbled Yaten as she got out of her room, dressed in her Three Lights blue suit. Mercury and she had been able to disguise her feminine silhouette but her face still looked a little different. She was also wearing a scarf.

"Kurama-san, would you know of any plants that could cause someone to have the symptom of a sore throat?" asked Mercury.

"Hai... I do, why?" replied Kurama as he searched into his pockets for his seeds. He produced a small packet of seeds, took a couple of them out placed them in a flower pot and accelerated their growth. "Here." he said "You must chew these leaves for about 10 minutes and you should have all the symptoms..."

Mercury took the leaves and gave them to Yaten. She took them, cringing at the bitter and acrid taste. She chewed but the experience didn't seem to please her at all. The boys looked at them wondering why Yaten was doing that when Mercury explained.

"You see, Yaten no longer has an, as apparent, Adam's apple; since she's going to see my mother, she's got to cover her throat. If she says she has a sore throat my mother will want to check it out, that's why I thought of the subterfuge..."

"I just wish this plant didn't taste so awful..." she croaked. She face vaulted. Even her voice sounded like she had a bad sore throat, dropping her voice to several octaves.

"Gomen ne... Yat-chan... It couldn't be helped..." said Kurama. She nodded and they were ready to go. "I'll treat you to ice cream afterwards at Crown. You'll see the symptoms just disappear when you eat that..."



----------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------

Makoto fumed in front of the movie theater. She had already bought two tickets to see the newest Jackie Chan movie. Ami couldn't come. Yaten had an emergency. It seems because she didn't came back to school. Rei had some tea ceremony practice. Minako and Usagi were supposed to come along with her to see it. Minako got side tracked by Jadeite who invited her to eat an ice cream. Usagi had arrived late at class so she had to stay after school. Redi wanted to go shopping to find a dress Seiya might liked...

Makoto sighed. She didn't want to go alone. She hated to go to the movies all by herself. It reminded her too much that she was alone in the world. Well not really alone, she had her friends but... it wasn't the same as having a boyfriend. It wasn't fair, she thought. All my friends have boyfriends. Heck even Yaten, Taiki found someone. And by the look of things, even Seiya had a love interest... Chibi-Usa... err... Redi, of all people. Everyone except me, she sighed heavily. She was about to cry when she felt someone sit next to her.

Hiei had been observing her. He was just passing along from tree to tree, unseen by anyone, when he saw her looking miserable. Before he knew it he was sitting next to her, half wondering what was wrong with her and half wondering why he should care.

"Hi..." he simply said. She wiped the tear that had started to flow down and she turned to him, greeting him with the best smile she could muster. Why does she act like that, he wondered. I can still see in her eyes that she's sad, but she still tries to make me believe the opposite. Humans are so weird. There was something familiar in her eyes. It wasn't the fact that she had the same color as Kurama, there was something there he'd seen in other eyes. He couldn't place what it was.

"Hi, Hiei..." she beamed, trying to hide her sadness.

"Are you okay?..." he asked. She nodded.

"It's just that I was supposed to see a movie with my fr..." she started. She beamed, thinking of something. "Hiei, I have an extra ticket. Could you please come with me?" She asked, her eyes started to shimmer with hope. How strange, he thought. His eyes just lit up. Unfortunately, the prospect of seeing a movie didn't go well with him. Yuusuke told him movies girls wanted to see were usually romance things where there was lots of kissing. Something Hiei didn't really feel like seeing.

"I don't like movies..." he started to say. He saw her eyes darken and became sad and hopeless again. Something deep inside him regretted he just said that. She looked miserable again. He knew it was his fault. Well, he thought, it's not because I wanted to up her spirits if I sat next to her; but I didn't want to make matters worse. "... but I can go with you if you want me to..." wait a minute... Did I said that?

He was about to say that he changed his mind but Makoto had grabbed him by the nape of his sleeve and was dragging him inside the theater. He was about to tell her to let go but when he saw how happy she was (and also the fact that they were already inside the theater) he decided to shut up.



---------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------

Yaten and Kurama were sitting down at Crown. They had taken a booth and were eating ice cream. Kurama was eating a double fudge sundae and Yaten, who hadn't eaten a bite because she was so nervous, was eating a Crown Special Banana split. Kurama was eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yat-chan... you sure you're going to eat it all?"

"Of course..." she answered between mouthfuls. "I'm hungry... Aren't you the one always complaining I don't eat enough..? Hey, you're right. My throat feels much better..."

Kurama smiled. "See... Your day wasn't so bad. Even Dr. Mizuno decided not to take more blood samples from you. And once your fevers break you'll no longer be contagious." He got closer to her and whispered. "And I'll be able to kiss you and you won't be afraid to give me your sickness..."

Yaten blushed. "I know... and stop trying to tempt me..." she quickly added.

Kurama smiled. "We'll just have to wait a little bit longer..." He pulled back quickly when he saw Motoki coming over to their table to see if everything was to their liking.

Motoki then went to another table and asked the man sitting in another booth. When he asked him what he wanted, he replied only.

"Coffee." The voice was calm and calculating. He was looking straight in front of him. Motoki thought this was a weird one and hoped he wouldn't make any trouble. He brought him coffee. The guy nodded but that was it; he was back at staring straight ahead. Motoki shrugged, he was nearly bumped out of the way by a girl with reddish brown hair.

Kurama had just finished telling Yaten a very funny joke, when Keiko, arrived at their table. She had her arms folded over her chest and she was looking at them angrily.

"May I have a word with you, Shuhitchi-san?" she said. Kurama knew all too well that when she used his normal human name, Keiko meant business. Not wanting to cause a scene at Crown nor to upset Yaten more than she already was, Kurama got up and followed Keiko outside. Yaten shrugged and continued to eat her banana split. Kurama and Keiko were discussing outside, when the lone figure who hadn't even touched his coffee rose and passed Yaten.

Meanwhile, outside of Crown, Kurama was busy with Keiko who was asking him questions.

"How long has this started?" asked Keiko.

Kurama was a little mad at the question. He considered Keiko a good friend but this question was a little too personal for his taste. "Listen, Keiko-chan, I don't know what the problem is..."

"You don't know what the problem is?.... Kurama did you fall in love with him when he came to Sarayashiki a month ago?" asked Keiko.

"What does it have to do with anything?" Kurama was starting to be angry with these accusations.

"I think it had plenty to do... You never came with us at school before Yaten showed up, you never came at lunchtime either. You even insisted to bring him to the doctor when he got injured." She paused then looked him straight in the eyes. "Looks like you had it planned all along didn't you?"

Kurama was shocked, "If I understand you well, you're accusing me of having done all in my power to seduce Yaten? Is that what you're saying?"

"In one word... yes..." said Keiko. Kurama couldn't believe his ears. How could she? She didn't know what Yaten and him went through that week.

"Keiko-chan... We fell in love. That's it! I didn't seduce him. It just happened... and I didn't use any love potion either if you want to hint that!" Kurama was genuinely upset and mad.

"How could you?" she said. "How could you? You know he's a popular idol. Have you thought of all those girls who are dreaming they could fall..."

"WHAT? No, all I'm thinking of, my dear Keiko, is of his happiness. Have you bothered to think that maybe he loves me back? And that he may be happy with me? More happy than with a girl? Now excuse me. If that will be all, I have to bring Yaten back home..." Kurama turned around and entered back into Crown. He had to get away from Keiko or else he would say something he might come to regret.

"What about his safety?" she asked. "You know you aren't a normal person and that you have powerful enemies! You're putting him in danger or don't you care?" Kurama didn't reply. He didn't have to justify himself to Keiko. He got back inside and finished eating his sundae. Yaten could feel he wasn't in a good mood so she didn't ask what Keiko wanted. If Kurama wanted to tell him, he would. Kurama paid Motoki and he escorted Yaten back home. The strange man who ordered coffee shadowed them from afar.



-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

Hiei and Makoto walked out of the theater. Hiei had to say he was impressed with the movie. He would have to have a word with Yuusuke. Not all movies had romance dribble in it. Okay the story wasn't all that great and Makoto told him, so but that Chan guy sure could move for a human. Hiei hated to admit it but that human had some pretty good moves.

"Oh and when he jumped over that bucket and that broom and he used them against his opponents..." He jumped himself to prove what he meant. She applauded him.

"Hey! Maybe you should go into movies yourself, maybe as a stuntman. You'd be great!!!" said Makoto.

"You think so..? Mmm, why not. If a human can do it... I certainly can!" he boasted. Listen to yourself, Hiei, he thought. Why are you acting so stupidly? Makoto was about to say something when she looked at the time.

"OH! Is it so late?" She said as she started to run. Surprised, Hiei followed her wondering why she was so in a hurry all of a sudden. "I have a martial arts training class tonight with Haruka..." She didn't break her stride as she ran and explained to him. He followed her easily. "You can come, too, if you wish..." Hiei nodded and followed her. A part of himself scolded him for acting like a puppy with her. Another part of him was happy she still wanted him around.



------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------

Kurama and Yaten were almost at the apartment when Kurama stiffened. He felt something wasn't right. He could feel eyes on him and he could feel Makai magic.

"Oh, Hi Taiki! Hi Ami!" Yaten took a few steps in front of Kurama, when she saw her brother and Ami get out of the building. "OUCH!" she yelled out, bringing her hand to her throat. A small dart was in her hand and it was coated with blood, her blood. Yaten turned toward Kurama who had just heard her cry out, asking her if she was all right.

She just had time to hand over the dart. Everything was moving in slow- motion as her legs gave way. She felt Kurama's strong hands catch her before blacking out.

"YATEN!" gasped Kurama. When they saw her collapse in his arms, Taiki and Ami rushed to see what was happening. Kurama took her in his arms and he rushed her inside with Ami as Taiki quickly circled everywhere looking for who had done this.



-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

"Very good, Mako-chan!" said Haruka. "I see you've worked well on your blocks and your parry..." Hiei watched the tall blond woman teach the brunette some new moves. Hiei was impressed. He had seen Sailor Jupiter fight and he knew her strength was something to reckon with. What the other woman was teaching, it seems, was finesse and strategy in hand to hand combat. Well trained, both these women would be warriors to be reckoned with.

They took a break. Haruka turned to Hiei. "You were there, weren't you, when those demons attacked us?" Hiei looked at her. How could she have known? "My name is Haruka Tenoh, but I am also known as Sailor Uranus..." she extended her hand. He took it. "That was quite a combat, unfortunatly I was rather taken down quickly so I didn't really see you in action... Care to have a friendly spar?" Hiei nodded. She pulled and tucked at him roughly.

Hiei smiled, a little exercise wouldn't hurt. "I'll go easy on you..." he said.

"You wish..." She replied. They started sparring. Hiei actually had to make an effort. She was quite fast. She seemed to have the wind as a partner. she glided easily in the air, jumping and kicking. Hiei felt she held back, too. Her kicks and jabs were merely love taps. But he could feel the power behind each swerve. They battled for a good fifteen minutes. They both started to get winded. Haruka had a wicked idea.

"Makoto attack!!" she instructed the brunette.

"I can't do that!" blurted Makoto. "Not two against one."

"I'm pulling off and I want you to continue..." said the blonde, swinging at Hiei just enough to keep him off balance and jumped out of his way. Makoto took her place as she headed for the showers.

"Have fun, kids!" she said as she entered the girl's locker heading for the shower. She took off her clothes and headed for a good long shower. As the water cascaded on her she did see and hear the all alarm signal coming from her senshi communicator.

Meanwhile, Makoto and Hiei battled. He had a slight smile.

"I'm tired of these little exercises. How about we use real battle strategy? Make this interesting?" he asked. She nodded.

They fought like that for five minutes, trying everything they knew to knock the other off balance. Hiei then realized she had a weakness and struck. Makoto was overwhelmed by his attack and she fell on her back. He was quickly over her and grabbed her legs in a block with his own. She reacted exactly as he thought she would by trying to give him a projection. As her hands rose he caught them and using his weight and momentum, pinning her arms to the floor. Struggle as hard as she could, the koorime held her in a viselike grip.

"Give up? he asked with a small smile on his lips.

She rose, her face toward his and with fury in her eyes she said: "Never!" They both panted looking at each other's eyes in a warrior's gaze. Neither one wanted to look away and admit defeat.

Little did they know this contest would end with no loser. Hiei looked into her eyes. She was something fierce to behold, but suddenly, something in her gaze softened. Little did he know that Makoto was experiencing the same feeling as he. Their brows began to be less battle oriented. They both found they were lost, lost looking at each other.

Hiei didn't remember letting go of one of her hands but he must have, because his left hand was softly caressing the side of her face. He felt her hand on his chest, just where his heart was still beating fast and strong. Makoto felt faint, her heart hammering in her chest. His eyes, she couldn't look at anything else. She felt something coming out of his eyes. <I don't want to be alone, anymore> that's what she felt. She knew it echoed her own sentiments of loneliness. She felt it in the bottom of her heart. She felt like she was like a moth and he the flames. She felt warm and safe against him. Her mouth wanted even more heat. He inched closer to her, drowning in her gaze, moving with her as though he had no longer any control over his actions and he didn't care. Their eyes had closed and their mouths were almost locked in a kiss when they heard Haruka cry out.

"Mako-chan, come quickly!" They both jumped and Makoto got off the ground blushing. Oh my god, she thought, what was I about to do? She entered the locker room as Hiei, also was wondering what came over him. Haruka was there talking into her communicator. She closed it and turned to Makoto.

"It's Yaten, someone just poisoned her..."