Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Kyuketsuki Shishi ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Talking"

`Thinking or thoughts'

Chapter 4

Behind Artemis, two females came in; both clearly werebeasts, judging from their ears and tails. The first one was a brunette who wore silver armbands encrusted with emeralds and whose clothing consisted in furs and leather in the same style Youko Kurama favored. All her clothes were dyed forest green and on her front was drawn a picture of a hunter moon with a pack of wolves howling at it. Her emerald-green eyes were alive and warm; her peach-colored skin was smooth looking. Kazuma could see several tattoos on her arms: an owl and the zodiacal symbol of Sagittarius on the left one; the astronomical symbol of Jupiter, with oak leaves surrounding it, on the right one. Her small, brown, wolf ears moved to the sounds that were made in the kitchen; and her tail was left hanging limply behind her. On her back she carried a bow and a quiver full of arrows, the preferred choice of weapons among the humanimal wolves.

The other female was a humanimal cat. Her blonde, cat ears moved a little while her tail was wrapped around her slim waist. Long, blond hair fell down her back, held together by a red ribbon. Her bright, blue eyes shone with happiness and mischief. She wore a Greek-style dress of a golden color with a collar adorned with the golden symbol of Venus around her milky white neck. Like her female companion, she too wore armbands; in her case made of gold with an orange topaz in the middle. On her right arm she had tattooed the symbol of Venus, surrounded with a heart-shaped corona of flowers and leaves. And on her left one she sported the symbol of Libra, with a crow next to it.

At seeing Kazuma, her eyes widened and a smile curved her pink lips. She happily moved over to where he sat; and giving no second thought to what she was doing or what the rest of the dinner attendants could think, she sat down on Kazuma's lap, purring almost like she had done this a million times before.

"Um..." said Kazuma uneasily.

"Are you a cat lover?" asked Artemis, with a knowing look.

Kazuma slowly nodded, causing Artemis to laugh. "It's our instinct. Like cats, we humanimal cats can feel when another being has an affinity to our feline nature. Mina is very young, so she can't help but cuddle up to that being like a cat would."

"But... you belong to the same species and you're not..." Kazuma didn't dare to finish that sentence.

"Yes, but I'm older and better at self-control," Artemis said matter-of-factly as he sat at Kazuma`s right in order to be able to speak more easily with Kiron. The brunette took a seat at Kazuma's left, watching and smirking as Mina purred happily. Sensing that the blonde girl wasn't gonna get up from his lap any time soon, Kazuma forced himself to relax and tried to behave as if having her sitting on top of him was the most natural happening in the world. Not to mention, for a boy, the feeling of a pretty girl cuddling against his body is a very easy feeling to get used to.

As Kazuma was making gallant efforts to prevent his imagination from going overdrive about Mina and the position she was in, the wooden doors opened again. This time, three people came in. Two of the newcomers, a male and a female, looked to be around eighteen years old. Next to them was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties.

"Yomiko," said Kiron, nodding at her in greeting.

Yomiko smiled and nodded back, her long, black hair falling over her shoulders. She wore square black glasses, a long, white t-shirt with a red tie, a brown vest and a long, black skirt.

"Everyone I like you to meet Goku Son and Meilin Rae," introduced Yomiko. Surprisingly, her voice had a British accent.

Son Goku had wild, brown hair held out of his golden eyes by a gold coronet. He wore a cape with shoulder pads, a white button t-shirt and tight, blue jeans. The girl, Meilin Rae, had long, raven black hair held in two buns on top of her head with two ribbons wrapped around them. Her red eyes reminded Kazuma of Hiei's and Yukina's a bit, but they held a true cheerfulness that the orbs of the two demonic siblings lacked. She was wearing a Chinese dress, white at the top and red at the bottom, with very wide sleeves which had bells sewn at the end. In the middle it was divided by a golden belt with the yin and yang symbol.

"Goku is a shape-shifter... although his skills on that regard are limited. Nevertheless, he's a very strong fighter and will be useful for the team. As for Meilin, she'll be the magic user of your group," explained Yomiko.

Meilin then glared at the older woman as if she had greatly offended her. "What! When you came to recruit me you mentioned nothing about magic!"

"Well, the team needs someone able to cast spells, and you happen to fit the requirements," replied Yomiko, apparently unruffled by Meilin's outburst.

Meilin looked down, trying to hide her anger and disappointment but unable to keep them completely out of her voice. "That's just it! I can't do magic! Ever since I was born I've lacked that ability."

"Don't say that. You can..."

Meilin cut Yomiko off. "What the hell do you know about magic! All I've ever seen you do since I met you is reading!"

"True, I don't really know about magic except from what I've read in the books on the way here, but we do have someone who can teach you," said Yomiko.

"Hn, like that will help me," muttered Meilin, turning away like a stubborn child. Yomiko frowned at this, then placed a gentle hand on Meilin's shoulder and spoke in a different language Kazuma couldn't understand nor identify. Whatever Yomiko said seemed to work, as Meilin simply nodded and took a seat next to Shampoo while Goku sat next to Ryoga and Yomiko did it across Kiron.

"Now that we're all here, I think it would be best if you introduce yourselves to each other. Can't have a team made of perfect strangers, can we? You need to know what you have to work with. Ryoga, why don't you start?" Kiron said, placing his hands on the table.

Ryoga glanced momentarily at the powerful vampire who had gathered them all before speaking. "I'm Ryoga Hibiki, a martial artist. I was recently changed into a vampire and I don't like it nor want to talk about it, so don't ask questions."

Kiron nodded, "Shampoo?"

"My real name is Xian Pu, I guess you can call me Shampoo if that's the best you can manage. I'm a vampire like Ryoga, changed by the same vampire that changed him. I belong to a tribe of Chinese amazons who have refined their martial arts and investigated some magic for four thousand years. We train our children in the fighting arts by the time they can walk, so you can imagine what kind of warriors we are. And among my peers, I was the one to became champion of the tribe," said Shampoo proudly, not looking at Kiron or anybody else.

"Meilin?"

Meilin looked down at the floor, but answered. "Meilin Rae. I come from the Clow Clan in Hong Kong, China. All my relatives are skilled sorceress and sorcerers, but I'm the black sheep of my family since I don't have magic. Still, what I lack in that department I make it up with my fighting skills."

"Is that all?" said Kiron.

"I've got nothing else to say," answered Meilin.

"Very well. Goku?"

Goku smiled happily. "Goku Son. I live in India. I've no family, but I have some great friends. I'm technically a shape-shifter, but don't have much to offer in that department. I've worked hard to become really strong and... well, that's it."

Kazuma stared at Goku, astonished that the younger man could be so bubbly and cheerful despite the mess they were in, and was even able to say that he had no family as if it wasn't a big deal.

"And..." Kiron stopped when he reached the brunette. It looked like he didn't know her name. Still, the girl spoke up, sensing it was her turn.

"Makoto, heir to the Jovian White Wolf Clan. I'm a hunter and the last female in my family. My powers allow me to control plants, lighting and thunder... anything that has to do with nature."

Kiron nodded. "Kazuma. Your turn."

Kazuma stared unsurely at the people who were to become his teammates. Even if Kiron had promised not to harm family and friends, that wouldn't stop the others.

"You can tell them."

"Huh?"

Blue eyes stared down at another pair of lighter blue irises. For the first time since arriving here, Mina had spoken. She smiled kindly at him.

"How did you know what I was thinking and how do you know that it's alright to tell them?" asked Kazuma, bewildered.

"They all told us something about themselves. Why can't you? Are you hiding something?" replied Mina.

"Nothing," whispered Kazuma, a bit miffed.

Mina wrapped her arms around his neck. He tensed a bit, both from the tender gesture and because he could feel her breasts pressing against his chest now. Kazuma fought back a blush that threatened to show, and concentrated in his self-introduction the best he could.

"I'm merely a human, but I've an extremely good spiritual perception and I've received training to use my spiritual energy. Due to my employment under Koenma of Reikai, I've fought and defeated demons before, so I've quite a bit of experience in this field. I'm a former slave; was given back my freedom at twelve."

Kiron gave Kazuma a satisfied nod. "Now that matter is over, why don't we talk about the tournament?"