Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Aoitsuki Yurai ❯ The New School ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
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Disclaimer: All YYH characters and stuff from YYH belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. Shinzui, Ryuka, and all original characters and stuff belong to me.<Br>
<Br>
A/N: Whoo! I got some good reviews and finally put all the code stuff on this chapter! Thanks for the reviews everyone!<Br>
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&a mp;nbsp; After a few minutes, Yusuke, Keiko, and Shinzui arrived at the front gates of Sarayashiki High School and walked through them. Several students were already there, conversing in groups, but their heads turned as Shinzui walked past them with Keiko and Yusuke. <i>Now I'm getting nervous,</i> thought Shinzui, eyeing the students, <i>I hope they stop staring soon.</i> Her thoughts were interrupted when a shout caused everyone to jump and look in the direction of the source.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; A boy wearing a blue uniform charged over with three other boys and Shinzui watched Yusuke dodge out of the way as the boy nearly ran him over. His curly, orange hair was slicked back and his small brown eyes were fixed on Yusuke. The boy's mouth curved up into a smile and he clapped Yusuke on the back, both laughing. Shinzui blinked in confusion and stared at the two laughing boys.<Br>
"Who's this?" asked the boy, looking at Shinzui, "Some girl you picked up?" His eyes narrowed at Yusuke and he raised an eyebrow. "You're not cheating on Keiko are you?" <Br>
"My name is Shinzui Ookami," answered Shinzui in an irritated tone, drawing herself up to her full height, but she was still atleast a whole head shorter than the boy, "I'm new to this school and I met these two earlier this morning. I walked here with Yusuke AND Keiko." She gestured to Yusuke and Keiko, who was talking to one of her friends.<Br>
"Kuwabara, you idiot," said Yusuke, glaring at the boy, "I'd never cheat on Keiko. You know that."<Br>
"Sorry," said Kuwabara, turning a bit red, "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara and I didn't mean to insult such a lovely lady as yourself."<Br>
"Have you already forgotten about Yukina?" asked Yusuke, looking at his friend in exasperation.<Br>
"No," answered Kuwabara, sighing dramatically, "My love for Yukina burns brighter than any of the stars in the sky!"<Br>
<i>Who are these two boys?</i> thought Shinzui, staring at Kuwabara, <i>They act like normal boys, but then they do this. I don't get it.</i><Br>
"Don't mind them," said Keiko, laughing a bit, "Kuwabara's just crazy about this girl, Yukina, and when she's mentioned, he gets very eccentric about it." She walked towards the school. "I'll show you were the main office is so you can sign in and get your classroom." <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui nodded and followed Keiko across the school yard and into the building as the two boys ran towards the front gate to greet someone with a large amount of enthusiasm. <i>I wonder what has their attention now,</i> she thought as Keiko lead her down the hall to an office and left her there, <i>must be something interesting.</i> She sighed and walked inside to get the information she needed, which took so long that the gates had been closed by the time they were finished. <Br>
"Here's your locker and classroom information," said the woman at the desk, "Sorry it took so long. Your file was misplaced."<Br>
<i>Just smile and nod at her,</i> thought Shinzui, but aloud she said, "Thank you." She bowed a bit, mentally noting that the office staff had already made a bad impression. <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; On her way out, Shinzui ran into someone, and muttering a hurried apology, retreated down the hallway towards a set of stairs. She glanced back to see the back of a dark maroon uniform and a flash of red hair as the person disappeared into the office. <i> wonder who that was,</i> she thought, walking up the stairs to the floor her classroom was on, <i>They looked like they might be new too, seeing how they didn't have the school uniform.</i> She wandered down the hallway towards her classroom and finally located it, knocking on the door.<Br>
"Yes?" asked a masculine voice as the door slid open to reveal a man with short black hair and beady black eyes, "Oh, new student I presume?" Before Shinzui could say anything he added. "Well, come in so we can resume the lesson." He stepped to one side and gestured for Shinzui to get inside the classroom, which she did. "Class, this is a new student to our school. How about introducing yourself?" The boys were staring at her as if they had never seen a girl before. <Br>
"Um... Right," said Shinzui, her cheeks turning a bit red as she stared at the large class in front of her, "My name's Shinzui Ookami and I recently transferred here from Yokogiru High." <i>Why me, </i>she thought to herself as all eyes were fixed on her, <i>I hate speaking in front of people like this.</i> <Br>
"Anything else you'd like to say?" asked the teacher, looking bored.<Br>
"Um..." started Shinzui, searching for words to say, but a knock on the door saved her from needing to say anything else.<Br>
"Now what?" said the teacher, opening the door, "And who are you?"<Br>
"Are you Mr. Iwamoto?" asked a voice from the door.<Br>
"Yes," answered the teacher, eyeing the person at the door, "Are you another new student assigned to this class?"<Br>
"I'm just assigned to the class for the day," answered the voice as the speaker walked into view, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The speaker was a boy with long, red hair that fell a bit past mid-back and he wore a dark maroon uniform with a yellow stripe down the middle of the front. His emerald green eyes swept over the classroom and then returned to Iwamoto before shifting to Shinzui. <i>That's the dude I ran into at the office,</i> thought Shinzui, staring at the boy and a scent caught her attention, <i>I smell roses, but it can't be mine. It has a different scent than mine does.</i> Iwamoto cleared his throat and motioned for the boy to come and stand next to Shinzui. <Br>
"Apparently, we now have two new students," said Iwamoto, looking disgruntled, but he continued, "We all know Miss Ookami, but would you care to introduce yourself?" He looked pointedly at the red-haired boy.<Br>
"My name's Shuichi Minamino," answered the boy nonchalantly, "I'm not really a new student. I'm just visiting as part of a project for my class." He noticed that Shinzui was staring at him.
<i>That name,</i> thought Shinzui, still staring at Kurama, <i>His name sounds very familiar. His appearance brings a slight spark, but he feels familiar, too.</i> A throat being cleared caused her train of thought to crash and she flushed slightly, eyes moving down to look at her feet.<Br>
<i>I wonder why she was staring at me,</i> thought Kurama, observing the new girl closely,<i> I faintly remember this girl, but I'm not sure why. Her aura feels familiar though.</i> He moved his attention to Iwamoto after seeing Shinzui blush and stare at her shoes.<Br>
"Well, now that we know these two," said Iwamoto, "Let's get back to our lesson. Miss Ookami, Mr. Minamino, you two may take the two empty desks infront of Miss Yukimora and Mr. Urameshi." Iwamoto glared hard at Yusuke as the two new students took their seats.<Br>
"Kurama," hissed Yusuke, looking gleeful, "Nice to see you again, but what's with the project?" <Br>
"It's something we do every year," answered Kurama, quietly, "For one day we each visit the school of a friend and write a report and evaluation of the school." He quietly chuckled. "Most of my classmates thinks that this project was created to boost the pride of our school because it's supposed to have all the gifted students."<Br>
"That's a relief," whispered Kuwabara, who was sitting on the other side of Kurama, "I thought there was another miss..." He fell silent when Yusuke glanced at Shinzui and then back at Kuwabara. <Br>
<i>What was that all about?</i> thought Shinzui, observing the behavior of the three boys as they started on their work, <i>Oh well, it's none of my business.</i> She pulled out her notebook and started to copy down the lesson as the class continued. <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The rest of the morning classes passed slowly and Shinzui avidly worked to catch up, but soon found herself getting bored during Akashi's class. She stared at the buck-toothed teacher with a dull look in her eyes, writing down everything he was saying, but also drawing on the other page of her notebook. Her attention slowly drifted from Akashi's lecture to the pictures she was drawing in her notebook. As she finished the final dark lines on the picture, a shadow fell across her desk and she looked up into the face of Akashi. <i>Uh oh,</i> she thought, <i>Now, I'm in trouble.</i><Br>
"Is my lecture not interesting enough for you, Miss Ookami?" asked Akashi, glaring down his nose at her and he saw the picture, "This is not art class, it's science." He snatched the page out of her notebook and held it up a bit. "Please enlighten the class about Darwin's Theory of Evolution." His lips curled slightly into a sneer at Shinzui's blank face.<Br>
<i>Stupid git,</i> thought Shinzui, surppressing a smirk, <i>My school already went over this and I know it quite well.</i> She cleared her throat and stood up, keeping a nonchalant expression, taking a deep breath and then speaking aloud in a very clear voice. "Darwin theorized that evolution happened by means of natural selection. His intertwined ideas were that there was variation in every population, organisms compete for limited resources, organisms produce more offspring than can survive," Her eerie eyes were fixed on Akashi. "Organisms pass genetic traits on to their offspring, and those organisms with the most beneficial traits are more likely to survive and reproduce." She paused to take a breath and clear her throat a bit. "In simple terms, it means that the weak die while the strong live. Survival of the fittest. Isn't that basically what you said?" There was no point where she had looked down at her notes, which surprised her classmates.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The whole class was staring at Shinzui as she sat down and smiled innocently up at a stunned and clearly irritated Akashi. The teacher reluctantly gave the notebook page back and retreated to the front of the room, making a mental note to himself that the new girl was bound to be a trouble maker. Shinzui chuckled and placed the picture carefully in her bag as Akashi regained his composure. Everyone returned to their notes as Akashi began to lecture again, but there was a faint flush in his cheeks from anger and embarrassment.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Once the class was over, they broke for lunch and Shinzui immediately went outside with her food, seeking out a good spot. She smiled with glee when she saw a cherry blossom tree that was thick blossoms and leaves a few feet away. Clamping her teeth over the knot of fabric that had been wrapped around her lunch, she proceeded to climb up to a very thick and sturdy branch. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama walked outside talking, but they all caught a glimpse of black disappearing up the tree. <Br>
"What the hell was that?" asked Yusuke, walking to the tree with the other two close behind him.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The three boys looked up and saw Shinzui sitting on a branch with her skirt wrapped around her legs. She was eating ramen noodles with a pair of chopsticks and started when her eyes fell on the six eyes watching her. A gust of wind blew some of the petals down and Shinzui smiled at the boys, setting her chopsticks in the bowl before waving. A bird sat on top of her head, chirping merrily and a few other birds were gathered around her.<Br>
"Well, looks like I failed in my search of solitude," chuckled Shinzui, stroking the chest of one of the birds. <Br>
"How'd you get up there?" asked Kuwabara, looking around, "There aren't a lot of branches to climb up."<Br>
"Chikara Sensee always said my ability to climb trees was as skilled as a monkey's," answered Shinzui, laughing a bit.<Br>
"Yusuke!" exclaimed Keiko, rushing over to them, "You said you'd wait for me at the door!" She put her hands on her hips, looking stern.<Br>
"Sorry, Keiko," said Yusuke, scratching the back of his head, "We saw someone climbing the tree and were curious."<Br>
"Hi Keiko," said Shinzui, smiling and waving from her branch after eating some more ramen, "I may not like the teachers here, but the grounds are pretty." She laughed at the shocked expression on Keiko's face. "Ryuka would like this place, cherry blossoms are her favorite flower."<Br>
"Ryuka?" said Kurama, silently thinking to himself, <i>That name sounds really familiar.</i> Aloud he spoke. "Who's Ryuka?"<Br>
"One of my friends who lives in another part of Japan," replied Shinzui, smiling and searching for something in her bag, "She's my best friend." She pulled out a little album and flipped to a picture. "Here's a picture of the two of us from the time she came for a visit."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The four looked at the picture of a short girl with slightly untidy, raven-black hair that fell a bit past her shoulders and her bangs were white. A pair of red-orange eyes stared at them from the picture and a black dragon was tattooed on one of her shoulders. Shinzui was standing next to her and the two were posing with a different weapon in their hands. From the state of the punching bags behind them, the two girls had waged an all out war upon the sand filled bags with their weapons.<Br>
"She reminds me of Hiei," said Yusuke, staring at the picture, "Only more cheerful, but she seems just as violent."<Br>
"Who's Hiei?" asked Shinzui, looking at him as she closed her now empty ramen bowl, "Another friend of your's?" <Br>
"Yeah, but he doesn't go to school here," replied Yusuke, eyes moving to another picture, "Who's this old guy surrounded by guys in suits?"<Br>
"Oh..." answered Shinzui quietly, looking at her lap, "That's my father and his group of minions." Two emotions were mixed in her eyes, contempt and sadness. "He's a big business man at some company with a couple of creepy scientists crawling all over it." She started to climb down the tree, but as she was searching for a place to put her foot she heard Keiko's voice say something that made her breath catch.<Br>
"Is this a picture of your mother?" Keiko and the three boys were looking at a picture of a woman with flowing reddish chestnut hair and soft turquoise blue eyes, "She's beautiful!"<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui's foot missed the branch completely and she toppled out of the tree, landing with a crash on Kurama. Her cheeks went red as she rolled off of Kurama and quickly stood up, hiding her face while brushing herself off. Her silence was unnerving to the group, but when Keiko voiced the question again, they saw Shinzui's back stiffen and she turned to them. When she spoke, they heard a quiver in her voice that sounded like she was fighting the urge to cry.<Br>
"Y... yes," Shinzui looked at the ground with her eyes closed. "That is... Well... Was my mother." Her fists clenched tightly.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui raised her head, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes to look at them. Her eyes had seemingly changed shade and now looked like a deep pool of crystal-blue water, but the sadness in them was enough to darken the brightest day. With a swift motion, she pulled the album out of Keiko's hands, shut it, and put it back in her bag. <Br>
<i>Her aura's changed,</i> thought Kurama, looking up at her from the ground, <i>It's gone from bright and warm, to depressed and cold.</i> <Br>
"Was your mother?" said Yusuke, eyeing the girl with curiosity, "What happened to her?" He winced when he felt Keiko's elbow dig into his side.<Br>
"I'm sorry," muttered Shinzui, extending a hand to Kurama, "I didn't mean to land on you." She obviously didn't want to pursue the current topic.<Br>
"It's no problem," said Kurama in a gentle voice, getting up himself and patting her on the shoulder, "You didn't do it on purpose."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui looked at him and as their eyes met, her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat. <i>Those eyes look so familiar,</i> she thought, her gaze softening, but her thoughts were interrupted by the bell. The five headed back to their classroom and didn't discuss the topic of Shinzui's family again, but they quietly conversed whenever they could as their school hours drew to an end.<Br>
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Well, that's the end of the chapter. Yeah, I originally was going to have Kurama transfer, but that'd be TOO convenient, so he's just there for one day. Please Read and Review this chapter.<Br>
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SNEAK PEEK!:<Br>
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** Tenma storms into the chapter!<Br>
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** A bit of a peek into Shinzui's human past.<Br>
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** A furry friend turns up to help our girl out.<Br>
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Disclaimer: All YYH characters and stuff from YYH belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. Shinzui, Ryuka, and all original characters and stuff belong to me.<Br>
<Br>
A/N: Whoo! I got some good reviews and finally put all the code stuff on this chapter! Thanks for the reviews everyone!<Br>
<Br>
* * * * * * * <Br>
<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; After a few minutes, Yusuke, Keiko, and Shinzui arrived at the front gates of Sarayashiki High School and walked through them. Several students were already there, conversing in groups, but their heads turned as Shinzui walked past them with Keiko and Yusuke. <i>Now I'm getting nervous,</i> thought Shinzui, eyeing the students, <i>I hope they stop staring soon.</i> Her thoughts were interrupted when a shout caused everyone to jump and look in the direction of the source.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; A boy wearing a blue uniform charged over with three other boys and Shinzui watched Yusuke dodge out of the way as the boy nearly ran him over. His curly, orange hair was slicked back and his small brown eyes were fixed on Yusuke. The boy's mouth curved up into a smile and he clapped Yusuke on the back, both laughing. Shinzui blinked in confusion and stared at the two laughing boys.<Br>
"Who's this?" asked the boy, looking at Shinzui, "Some girl you picked up?" His eyes narrowed at Yusuke and he raised an eyebrow. "You're not cheating on Keiko are you?" <Br>
"My name is Shinzui Ookami," answered Shinzui in an irritated tone, drawing herself up to her full height, but she was still atleast a whole head shorter than the boy, "I'm new to this school and I met these two earlier this morning. I walked here with Yusuke AND Keiko." She gestured to Yusuke and Keiko, who was talking to one of her friends.<Br>
"Kuwabara, you idiot," said Yusuke, glaring at the boy, "I'd never cheat on Keiko. You know that."<Br>
"Sorry," said Kuwabara, turning a bit red, "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara and I didn't mean to insult such a lovely lady as yourself."<Br>
"Have you already forgotten about Yukina?" asked Yusuke, looking at his friend in exasperation.<Br>
"No," answered Kuwabara, sighing dramatically, "My love for Yukina burns brighter than any of the stars in the sky!"<Br>
<i>Who are these two boys?</i> thought Shinzui, staring at Kuwabara, <i>They act like normal boys, but then they do this. I don't get it.</i><Br>
"Don't mind them," said Keiko, laughing a bit, "Kuwabara's just crazy about this girl, Yukina, and when she's mentioned, he gets very eccentric about it." She walked towards the school. "I'll show you were the main office is so you can sign in and get your classroom." <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui nodded and followed Keiko across the school yard and into the building as the two boys ran towards the front gate to greet someone with a large amount of enthusiasm. <i>I wonder what has their attention now,</i> she thought as Keiko lead her down the hall to an office and left her there, <i>must be something interesting.</i> She sighed and walked inside to get the information she needed, which took so long that the gates had been closed by the time they were finished. <Br>
"Here's your locker and classroom information," said the woman at the desk, "Sorry it took so long. Your file was misplaced."<Br>
<i>Just smile and nod at her,</i> thought Shinzui, but aloud she said, "Thank you." She bowed a bit, mentally noting that the office staff had already made a bad impression. <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; On her way out, Shinzui ran into someone, and muttering a hurried apology, retreated down the hallway towards a set of stairs. She glanced back to see the back of a dark maroon uniform and a flash of red hair as the person disappeared into the office. <i> wonder who that was,</i> she thought, walking up the stairs to the floor her classroom was on, <i>They looked like they might be new too, seeing how they didn't have the school uniform.</i> She wandered down the hallway towards her classroom and finally located it, knocking on the door.<Br>
"Yes?" asked a masculine voice as the door slid open to reveal a man with short black hair and beady black eyes, "Oh, new student I presume?" Before Shinzui could say anything he added. "Well, come in so we can resume the lesson." He stepped to one side and gestured for Shinzui to get inside the classroom, which she did. "Class, this is a new student to our school. How about introducing yourself?" The boys were staring at her as if they had never seen a girl before. <Br>
"Um... Right," said Shinzui, her cheeks turning a bit red as she stared at the large class in front of her, "My name's Shinzui Ookami and I recently transferred here from Yokogiru High." <i>Why me, </i>she thought to herself as all eyes were fixed on her, <i>I hate speaking in front of people like this.</i> <Br>
"Anything else you'd like to say?" asked the teacher, looking bored.<Br>
"Um..." started Shinzui, searching for words to say, but a knock on the door saved her from needing to say anything else.<Br>
"Now what?" said the teacher, opening the door, "And who are you?"<Br>
"Are you Mr. Iwamoto?" asked a voice from the door.<Br>
"Yes," answered the teacher, eyeing the person at the door, "Are you another new student assigned to this class?"<Br>
"I'm just assigned to the class for the day," answered the voice as the speaker walked into view, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The speaker was a boy with long, red hair that fell a bit past mid-back and he wore a dark maroon uniform with a yellow stripe down the middle of the front. His emerald green eyes swept over the classroom and then returned to Iwamoto before shifting to Shinzui. <i>That's the dude I ran into at the office,</i> thought Shinzui, staring at the boy and a scent caught her attention, <i>I smell roses, but it can't be mine. It has a different scent than mine does.</i> Iwamoto cleared his throat and motioned for the boy to come and stand next to Shinzui. <Br>
"Apparently, we now have two new students," said Iwamoto, looking disgruntled, but he continued, "We all know Miss Ookami, but would you care to introduce yourself?" He looked pointedly at the red-haired boy.<Br>
"My name's Shuichi Minamino," answered the boy nonchalantly, "I'm not really a new student. I'm just visiting as part of a project for my class." He noticed that Shinzui was staring at him.
<i>That name,</i> thought Shinzui, still staring at Kurama, <i>His name sounds very familiar. His appearance brings a slight spark, but he feels familiar, too.</i> A throat being cleared caused her train of thought to crash and she flushed slightly, eyes moving down to look at her feet.<Br>
<i>I wonder why she was staring at me,</i> thought Kurama, observing the new girl closely,<i> I faintly remember this girl, but I'm not sure why. Her aura feels familiar though.</i> He moved his attention to Iwamoto after seeing Shinzui blush and stare at her shoes.<Br>
"Well, now that we know these two," said Iwamoto, "Let's get back to our lesson. Miss Ookami, Mr. Minamino, you two may take the two empty desks infront of Miss Yukimora and Mr. Urameshi." Iwamoto glared hard at Yusuke as the two new students took their seats.<Br>
"Kurama," hissed Yusuke, looking gleeful, "Nice to see you again, but what's with the project?" <Br>
"It's something we do every year," answered Kurama, quietly, "For one day we each visit the school of a friend and write a report and evaluation of the school." He quietly chuckled. "Most of my classmates thinks that this project was created to boost the pride of our school because it's supposed to have all the gifted students."<Br>
"That's a relief," whispered Kuwabara, who was sitting on the other side of Kurama, "I thought there was another miss..." He fell silent when Yusuke glanced at Shinzui and then back at Kuwabara. <Br>
<i>What was that all about?</i> thought Shinzui, observing the behavior of the three boys as they started on their work, <i>Oh well, it's none of my business.</i> She pulled out her notebook and started to copy down the lesson as the class continued. <Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The rest of the morning classes passed slowly and Shinzui avidly worked to catch up, but soon found herself getting bored during Akashi's class. She stared at the buck-toothed teacher with a dull look in her eyes, writing down everything he was saying, but also drawing on the other page of her notebook. Her attention slowly drifted from Akashi's lecture to the pictures she was drawing in her notebook. As she finished the final dark lines on the picture, a shadow fell across her desk and she looked up into the face of Akashi. <i>Uh oh,</i> she thought, <i>Now, I'm in trouble.</i><Br>
"Is my lecture not interesting enough for you, Miss Ookami?" asked Akashi, glaring down his nose at her and he saw the picture, "This is not art class, it's science." He snatched the page out of her notebook and held it up a bit. "Please enlighten the class about Darwin's Theory of Evolution." His lips curled slightly into a sneer at Shinzui's blank face.<Br>
<i>Stupid git,</i> thought Shinzui, surppressing a smirk, <i>My school already went over this and I know it quite well.</i> She cleared her throat and stood up, keeping a nonchalant expression, taking a deep breath and then speaking aloud in a very clear voice. "Darwin theorized that evolution happened by means of natural selection. His intertwined ideas were that there was variation in every population, organisms compete for limited resources, organisms produce more offspring than can survive," Her eerie eyes were fixed on Akashi. "Organisms pass genetic traits on to their offspring, and those organisms with the most beneficial traits are more likely to survive and reproduce." She paused to take a breath and clear her throat a bit. "In simple terms, it means that the weak die while the strong live. Survival of the fittest. Isn't that basically what you said?" There was no point where she had looked down at her notes, which surprised her classmates.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The whole class was staring at Shinzui as she sat down and smiled innocently up at a stunned and clearly irritated Akashi. The teacher reluctantly gave the notebook page back and retreated to the front of the room, making a mental note to himself that the new girl was bound to be a trouble maker. Shinzui chuckled and placed the picture carefully in her bag as Akashi regained his composure. Everyone returned to their notes as Akashi began to lecture again, but there was a faint flush in his cheeks from anger and embarrassment.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Once the class was over, they broke for lunch and Shinzui immediately went outside with her food, seeking out a good spot. She smiled with glee when she saw a cherry blossom tree that was thick blossoms and leaves a few feet away. Clamping her teeth over the knot of fabric that had been wrapped around her lunch, she proceeded to climb up to a very thick and sturdy branch. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama walked outside talking, but they all caught a glimpse of black disappearing up the tree. <Br>
"What the hell was that?" asked Yusuke, walking to the tree with the other two close behind him.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The three boys looked up and saw Shinzui sitting on a branch with her skirt wrapped around her legs. She was eating ramen noodles with a pair of chopsticks and started when her eyes fell on the six eyes watching her. A gust of wind blew some of the petals down and Shinzui smiled at the boys, setting her chopsticks in the bowl before waving. A bird sat on top of her head, chirping merrily and a few other birds were gathered around her.<Br>
"Well, looks like I failed in my search of solitude," chuckled Shinzui, stroking the chest of one of the birds. <Br>
"How'd you get up there?" asked Kuwabara, looking around, "There aren't a lot of branches to climb up."<Br>
"Chikara Sensee always said my ability to climb trees was as skilled as a monkey's," answered Shinzui, laughing a bit.<Br>
"Yusuke!" exclaimed Keiko, rushing over to them, "You said you'd wait for me at the door!" She put her hands on her hips, looking stern.<Br>
"Sorry, Keiko," said Yusuke, scratching the back of his head, "We saw someone climbing the tree and were curious."<Br>
"Hi Keiko," said Shinzui, smiling and waving from her branch after eating some more ramen, "I may not like the teachers here, but the grounds are pretty." She laughed at the shocked expression on Keiko's face. "Ryuka would like this place, cherry blossoms are her favorite flower."<Br>
"Ryuka?" said Kurama, silently thinking to himself, <i>That name sounds really familiar.</i> Aloud he spoke. "Who's Ryuka?"<Br>
"One of my friends who lives in another part of Japan," replied Shinzui, smiling and searching for something in her bag, "She's my best friend." She pulled out a little album and flipped to a picture. "Here's a picture of the two of us from the time she came for a visit."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; The four looked at the picture of a short girl with slightly untidy, raven-black hair that fell a bit past her shoulders and her bangs were white. A pair of red-orange eyes stared at them from the picture and a black dragon was tattooed on one of her shoulders. Shinzui was standing next to her and the two were posing with a different weapon in their hands. From the state of the punching bags behind them, the two girls had waged an all out war upon the sand filled bags with their weapons.<Br>
"She reminds me of Hiei," said Yusuke, staring at the picture, "Only more cheerful, but she seems just as violent."<Br>
"Who's Hiei?" asked Shinzui, looking at him as she closed her now empty ramen bowl, "Another friend of your's?" <Br>
"Yeah, but he doesn't go to school here," replied Yusuke, eyes moving to another picture, "Who's this old guy surrounded by guys in suits?"<Br>
"Oh..." answered Shinzui quietly, looking at her lap, "That's my father and his group of minions." Two emotions were mixed in her eyes, contempt and sadness. "He's a big business man at some company with a couple of creepy scientists crawling all over it." She started to climb down the tree, but as she was searching for a place to put her foot she heard Keiko's voice say something that made her breath catch.<Br>
"Is this a picture of your mother?" Keiko and the three boys were looking at a picture of a woman with flowing reddish chestnut hair and soft turquoise blue eyes, "She's beautiful!"<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui's foot missed the branch completely and she toppled out of the tree, landing with a crash on Kurama. Her cheeks went red as she rolled off of Kurama and quickly stood up, hiding her face while brushing herself off. Her silence was unnerving to the group, but when Keiko voiced the question again, they saw Shinzui's back stiffen and she turned to them. When she spoke, they heard a quiver in her voice that sounded like she was fighting the urge to cry.<Br>
"Y... yes," Shinzui looked at the ground with her eyes closed. "That is... Well... Was my mother." Her fists clenched tightly.<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui raised her head, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes to look at them. Her eyes had seemingly changed shade and now looked like a deep pool of crystal-blue water, but the sadness in them was enough to darken the brightest day. With a swift motion, she pulled the album out of Keiko's hands, shut it, and put it back in her bag. <Br>
<i>Her aura's changed,</i> thought Kurama, looking up at her from the ground, <i>It's gone from bright and warm, to depressed and cold.</i> <Br>
"Was your mother?" said Yusuke, eyeing the girl with curiosity, "What happened to her?" He winced when he felt Keiko's elbow dig into his side.<Br>
"I'm sorry," muttered Shinzui, extending a hand to Kurama, "I didn't mean to land on you." She obviously didn't want to pursue the current topic.<Br>
"It's no problem," said Kurama in a gentle voice, getting up himself and patting her on the shoulder, "You didn't do it on purpose."<Br>
&a mp;nbsp; Shinzui looked at him and as their eyes met, her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat. <i>Those eyes look so familiar,</i> she thought, her gaze softening, but her thoughts were interrupted by the bell. The five headed back to their classroom and didn't discuss the topic of Shinzui's family again, but they quietly conversed whenever they could as their school hours drew to an end.<Br>
<Br>
* * * * * * * * *<Br>
<Br>
Well, that's the end of the chapter. Yeah, I originally was going to have Kurama transfer, but that'd be TOO convenient, so he's just there for one day. Please Read and Review this chapter.<Br>
<Br>
SNEAK PEEK!:<Br>
<Br>
** Tenma storms into the chapter!<Br>
<Br>
** A bit of a peek into Shinzui's human past.<Br>
<Br>
** A furry friend turns up to help our girl out.<Br>
<Br>
<Br>
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