Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Can't You Hear Me? ❯ Chapter 3: Hel-I Mean Gym Class ( Chapter 3 )

Hel-I Mean Gym

Drof: I HATE GYM CLASS!! This'll be fairly short. I hope to have it done before I have to go to sleep, but then again, I don't have to go to sleep.

Gerg: *that stands for Giant Evil Rubber Glove.* Nargalfich! *Translation: Hello!*

Drof: This is Gerg, the giant evil rubber glove.

Disclaimer: Ford owns nothing except the OCs, and Gerg.

***

Chapter 3: Hel-I Mean Gym

"Do we have to do this?" BHS asked.

"You can't skip!" Tanako said.

"I hate gym class…." BHS muttered for the fiftieth time.

***

"Okay, I'll assume we all know the rules of dodgeball," the teacher said. They were all lined up at separate sides of the gym, against the bleachers.

When Shiato translated that, BHS's eyes lit up.

"I'm actually good at this game!" she said. As the game started, her eyes gleamed evilly.

***

"Wow," Tanako said, watching BHS. Aforementioned BHS was being pelted with balls, and not a one hit her. She jumped away, twisted, turned, bent, and jumped to avoid them. In some cases, she merely stood still, and they went right by her. She was virtually the only person left on her team not out.

"The teachers can't hit her!" Shiato said.

"Wow…" someone next to her commented. `She's turning out to be pretty cool,' Shiato thought. `And if I'm her friend….'

"Would you stand still!" someone yelled. BHS, not speaking Japanese, didn't understand, of course. A ball flew at her, and she ducked out of the way, only to get beaned in the face with something that seemed to be a wrench.

"BY DOSE!!" she yelled, clutching her nose and falling backwards.

"Was that a wrench?" one of the teachers asked. Tanako ran over and picked up a bloody wrench.

"Yeah," she said.

"WHO THREW A WREDCH?!!"

***

"What did you do to yourself?" the nurse asked, in English.

"Somebund threw a wredch ad be!!" BHS said.

"Who the hell throws a wrench in dodgeball?!" the nurse asked.

"Dat's what I want to dow!" BHS said. *Dow-dough.*

"Well, I think you'll live," the nurse said. "Be careful next time, and watch for flying wrenches."

"Thags," BHS said sarcastically, getting up and walking away. As she got out of the nurses office, Tanako and Shiato walked up to her.

"You okay?" Tanako asked.

"I'b fide," BHS said. "It's by dose dat's dot okay."

"I still wanna know who throws a wrench in dodgeball!" Tanako said.

"Yeah!" BHS said. "It's dot dodgewrendch!"

"Apparently, it is now," Shiato said.

"Well, I godda go," BHS said.

"Where?" Shiato asked. "Home? Now?"

"Yeah," BHS said. "Oderwise, by bareds bight thig I'b dead, or somebid."

"Well, okay then," Tanako said.

"Bye!" Shiato added.

***

<A wrench, huh?> The Voice asked. <You humans have better games than I thought…>

"Dere was'd subbosed to be a wredch!!" BHS said.

<Hm…Whyever not?>

"Because, wredches are dadgerous," BHS replied. "Somebund could get hurd! Like be…"

<Are you dead or crippled?>

"Do…"

<Then you're fine.>

"Dice logic," BHS commented sarcastically. "Duh voice id by head is idsade. Gread."

<I'm not just a voice in your head!> The Voice sounded irritated.

"Yes you are, because I jused got hid id duh head wid a wredch, so I'b hearig thigs."

<I am a person, you know.>

"Den who are you?" BHS asked. The Voice responded, but BHS didn't understand what it said. The hairs on the back of her neck stiffened, and her skin crawled. She felt a shiver run up her spine at those words. What

The Voice had said, words in some language she couldn't understand, words she could almost understand, words that echoed through her head, tolling like some grim prophecy.

Suddenly it seemed dark, and cold, and she shuddered, feeling a sudden sense of terror. Those words weren't just a name, she realized, they meant something, something horrible and frightening, something she couldn't understand. Something she couldn't understand, something she didn't

Want

To understand.

She didn't dare to ask again, not wanting to experience that terror. She knew it was ridiculous, being afraid of words, but she was what she was, and she was afraid of those two words. `Or was it three?' she wondered. She didn't want to know the answer, no she didn't.

***

What the-" a teenager, with brown eyes and slicked-back black hair, said.

"Did you feel that, man?" asked a tall teen, with carrot-colored hair.

"Someone spoke one of the Forbidden Names," a red-head, Suichii, said. *Soon, he'll be known as Kurama. Soon.* He and a short demon, with spiky black hair and hard red eyes traded glances.

"A powerful Name, too," the black-haired demon said.

"What's a forbidden name?" the black-haired teen asked.

"Actually, Yusuke," Suichii said, "it would be `Forbidden Name'. Capitalized."

"Whatever," Yusuke said. "What is it?"

"Yeah, Kurama," the carrot-haired boy said. "What?"

"It's a name you shouldn't say," the red-eyed demon said.

"In the Makai," Kurama said, "there are certain demons…who are…hugely powerful. It's a bit hard to explain, but let's just say that their power is enormous, whether it's mental, physical, spiritual, political…You get my point. And, it gets to a point when even saying the name of the demon in question looses a bit of their power….And, with the more powerful ones, it can actually summon them. So, these names are forbidden. There are about three like the one we just felt, and one of those demons is dead…"

"Which one?" Yusuke asked. "And, if you can't say their names, how do you know who you're talking about?"

"Surrogate names are used, of course. Ones that don't have any power," Kurama said.

"I'd like to know who died, as well," the red-eyed demon said.

"Psychic Fear died, Hiei," Kurama said. His voice dropped to a whisper as he spoke the words `Psychic Fear'.

"You're brave, saying that name aloud," Hiei said.

"It is rather risky to call her that," Kurama agreed. "I've forgotten her other title though."

"Why is that risky?" the carrot-haired teen asked.

"Because, Kuwabara, that is the meaning of her name. In the Common Tongue, the universal Makai language, anyway," Kurama answered.

"Her other title it The Half-Breed Lord, fox," Hiei said.

"Thank you, Hiei," Kurama said.

"Why that?" Yusuke wondered.

"Because, she's half ice-demon, and half kitsune," Hiei answered. "Or, she was."

"Well, this has been a nice little history lesson, but I think we should go check out where that came from," Yusuke said.

"Yes, we should," Kurama agreed.

***

"I'b losed," BHS muttered. "Id a bark, for Bod's sake!

"Who's Bod?" a voice asked behind her. She jumped about three feet into the air, turned as she did, and fell gracelessly on her butt.

"Who duh-oh, id's you, Suichii," BHS said. She thumped her hand against her chest, over her heart, and muttered `Beat!' with each thump.

"You scared be!" she said.

"You seem a bit lost," Kurama said.

"I ab," she said.

"Did you break your nose or something?" Kurama asked. "You're speaking oddly."

"I did. Id gyb class."

"How?"

"Somebund threw a wredch ad be," BHS said.

"A wrench?!!"

"Yes, a wredch," BHS told him.

"Hey, Kurama!" a voice called. The voice turned out to be Yusuke, which was revealed when he came towards them. "Who's the short chick?"

"Someone I know from school," Kurama said. "Don't you have homework to do?" he asked pointedly. Yusuke blinked, then nodded and left.

"Whad was dat?" BHS asked.

"Nothing," Kurama replied. "So, you're telling me that someone threw a wrench at you while you were in gym class?"

"Yeah," BHS said.

"That's odd."

"I dow."

"May I ask what you're doing here?" Kurama asked, pleasantly enough. BHS's eyes narrowed a bit as she looked at him. The question was innocent enough, but something in his posture told her that there was a sort of double-meaning to the question.

"I'b losed," she confessed. "I was tryig to fid by way hobe, but I cad't…"

"Do you need help?" Kurama asked, concerned.

"Dah, I'll get dere evendually…Thags for offerig, dough," she told him.

"Alright, then. Well, I'd better get going. Homework…" Kurama said, turning and walking away.

***

"Kurama, who was she?" Yusuke asked.

"Just someone I know from school, like I said," Kurama told him. They were currently at Genkai's temple, with the intention of visiting a new member of the team.

"Who was who?" a rough, growling voice asked. It sounded female, good-natured with a slightly raspy, rough, untamed edge to it. The accent was Scottish, and something else that couldn't quite be placed.

"Hey, Kiiyra," Yusuke said, looking to the figure in the doorway. Said person was seven feet tall. She was a female, which was rather obvious. The only clothing she wore was a pair of ragged black pants, and her chest and stomach was wrapped in bandages, as well as the upper part of her left arm/ A long, slightly bushy tail, reminiscent of cat and wolf, swished behind her, and wolf-cat ears twitched atop her head. She had spiky, tangled copper hair that went to the backs of her knees. Her large, owlish eyes were a bright orange color, with cat-like pupils, and seemed to glow softly in the shadowy room. One of the things you noticed about her immediately, besides everything I just named, was that you couldn't see any of her skin.

She was furry. Her fur was cream-and-tawny, cream-colored on her chest and stomach, and tawny everywhere else. Her feet were like those of a wolf, more paws than feet, with the heels high off the ground. Sharp, curving claws tipped her long, thin fingers, as well as her toes. The latter clicked against the floor as she walked.

After the initial glance, *and if you didn't run away screaming*, you noticed that she was far too thin. Her ribs showed clearly through the bandages, and her hips, shoulders, and shoulder-blades were clearly visible. Her fur was matted and dirty, as was her hair, and the claws on her feet and hands were either too long, or broken and jagged.

"Heya, Detective," she said, smiling wanly. When she smiled, her long fangs were clearly revealed. The top left one was broken off, and the others were far too long. The bottom ones were also broken off, probably by Kiiyra herself, in order to keep them from slicing her gums, and the unbroken top one had to be at least four inches long.

"You don't look so good," Kurama noted.

"Aye, guess so, but I'm feelin' good enough ta be walkin', and tha's a damn sight better'n how I was before," Kiiyra said.

"True," Kurama allowed. "Has Genkai allowed you to be up and about?"

"Could she stop me?" Kiiyra asked.

"In your current condition? You bet I could, Kitten," a voice said from the other side of the room. Kiiyra's gaze snapped to the place the voice had come from, a growl rising in her throat before she could stop it, and she was able to make out a short, elderly woman.

"And are ye?" she asked.

"Well, I'm going to make you sit down," the woman said. Kiiyra rolled her eyes, but sat down anyway.

"Hi, Grandma," Yusuke said.

"Hello, Dimwit," the old woman replied.

"Hello, Genkai," Kurama said, showing a bit more politeness than Yusuke. *Doesn't he always?*

"Are the greetins necessary?" Kiiyra asked.

"You need to have a bit more patience," Genkai admonished.

"I'd rather hear `bout this girl Kurama knows," Kiiyra informed the old woman. "So, who is she?"

"Her name is BHS," Kurama said.

"Fer real?" Kiiyra and Yusuke asked at the same time.

"As far as I can tell."

"Hm…Go on, tell us what ye know," Kiiyra told him. Kurama nodded, and set about explaining his encounters with her. When he got to what had happened at lunch, Yusuke laughed his head off.

"She whipped the guy `cause he stole her book?" he asked, laughing.

"Indeed, she did," Kurama said. He continued telling, skipping to his meeting in the park. When he repeated their conversation, it was Kiiyra who laughed, much to his surprise. Yusuke and Genkai both looked at her oddly. Her laugh was deep and rich and warm, a bit raspy and rough, like her voice.

"Ye humans have more interestin' games than I thought," she said.

"Actually, I don' think any games played in gym class involve hitting other students with wrenches…" Kurama told her.

"An' why's `at?"

"Because…Wrenches aren't good things to be throwing around," Yusuke said. "You could hurt somebody." Kiiyra quirked a copper-colored eye-brow at him.

"Hurting others for amusement is generally frowned upon in schools, and the games played there," Kurama explained.

"No wonder ye humans're so weak," Kiiyra commented. Yusuke and Kuwabara both glared at her.

"I don't think now is the time to be discussing the inferiority of humans," Genkai said. "Besides, Kitten, we've got things you demons only wish you did."

"Yeah, like emotions other than hatred," Kuwabara said. Kiiyra's head snapped up at that, and she glared at him, a snarl curling her lips back from her teeth, a low growl rumbling up in her throat. Prominent were her screwed-up, but still razor-sharp fangs.

"Ye'd be wise not t'say such things, human," Kiiyra said, her voice hissing through her fangs. She imbued that last word with such venom, you could almost feel it. Kuwabara took a step back, realizing that he'd made her angry, and not wanting to end up like the guards that had tried to block her from escaping Maze Castle. She'd made short work of them, using her claws to lacerate them, and then she'd just wanted to escape. They'd been in her way.

She had that same feral, murderous light in her eyes as she had that time, that look that said she'd kill anything and anyone that crossed her path. Kuwabara most certainly did not want to be one of those individuals. Kiiyra took a moment to calm herself, forced the snarl off her face, although she was still growling.

"Don't talk about things ye don't know," she said, her voice not quite as harsh as it had been before. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, which Genkai broke by asking where Hiei was. Well, actually she asked where the Pyromaniac was, but same thing.

"I'm right here," Hiei's voice said from a place about two feet to Kiiyra's left. Kiiyra turned to look at him, a curious expression in her eyes. It was a look of something that approached frustration, that sort of look you'd give someone who you almost recognized, but couldn't quite place.

`Where do I know him from?' she asked herself. `Where?'

"Are you going to keep staring at me?" Hiei asked her. She jerked her gaze away from him, with a muttered apology.

"What was that about?" Yusuke muttered to himself. With no answer forthcoming from his mind, he mentally shrugged and forgot about it.

"Tell me, what is the sudden interest in a human girl about?" the red-eyed demon asked.

"She seems a bit strange to me," Kurama said.

"From what I've heard, she seems like a well-meaning idiot," Yusuke said.

"Ye say it true," Kiiyra said.

"Of course, it could be a clever act," Kurama said.

"It's a damn good one, then!" Yusuke said.

"Hey, dont'cha think that, if it is an act, she's putting a bit too much effort into it?" Kuwabara asked, drawing shocked stares from almost everyone present, excepting Genkai and Kurama, who were merely surprised. "I mean," he continued, "who would go to the trouble of getting a wrench thrown at them for the sake of making people think they're just an unfortunate fool?"

"You have a point, Kuwabara," Kurama said.

"So, you do have a brain," Hiei said.

"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled.

"Maybe you should keep an eye on her," Genkai suggested. "It couldn't hurt."

"Well, who can do that?" Yusuke asked. "Kurama's the only one who even knows her!"

"And she's several years younger than I am…The only time I even see her is at lunch," Kurama informed them.

Everyone spent a moment thinking about that, and about what they could do. After a moment, Kiiyra rose from her sitting position and started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going, Kitten?" Genkai asked.

"Don't call me `Kitten'," Kiiyra said, annoyed. "And I'm just gonna go sit outside for a bit. I need some fresh air."

"Alright…" the old woman said, wondering if Kiiyra actually had a much different intention. `Oh well,' she thought, `it's her choice.'

***

"And they actually believed I was just goin' ou'side?" Kiiyra shook her head. She stood at the top of Genkai's stairs, which Yusuke referred to as the Stairway From Hell. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and slowly changed, going from a reasonably humanoid demon to what looked like a large cat-wolf, six feet at the shoulder if it was an inch. The creature was cream-colored on its underside, and tawny on the back. Where Kiiyra's hair had been was now a mane-like ruff that went to the base of her tail, spilling across her flanks in fantastic whirls and spikes of flame-like copper. Her tail was long, and looked just like it had before, if a bit longer. All her lines had changed, become more bestial, coming to sharper, crueler points.

The fangs in her mouth were sharper, as were her claws, and in both instances it was clear that those were weapons, meant to tear and destroy an opponent. In her eyes was a bestial cruelty, a feral, wild look, which mingled with sentient intelligence. She moved her head from side to side, her slender, elegant wolf-like snout not even an inch off the ground. She gave a curiously doggy whine, and bent her head to lick at a scabbed-over wound on her left foreleg. There were more wounds on her chest and stomach, all scabbed-over. She took a hesitant step, and when none of the wounds reopened, she began slowly limping down the stairs, trying not to move her hurt leg. Then, something occurred to her. She looked back, to the pants and bandages on the ground.

That would definitely draw attention. She made a noise that sounded like a sigh, and limped back up the stairs, wishing her leg didn't hurt so much. She spent a little while trying to maneuver the bandages and pants into one pile with her wolfishly big paws, and when she did, picked them up in her teeth and dragged them away to a place where they'd be more inconspicuous. Then, she went back down the stairs, and limped off the temple grounds, all the while working on making her facial expression believably doggish, which was harder than she'd thought it would be. The best she could come up with was a semi-friendly-looking, wolfish grin, which showed too much fang to be reassuring.

She shook her head in annoyance, and crossed her eyes to look at her own snout in something approaching disgust, wondering why she couldn't even manage this. She had trouble believing she'd lost so much of her talent while locked in that dungeon…She felt a sad, almost nostalgic rage welling up inside of her, rage and sadness towards the Saint Beasts, who had taken so much from her. She'd never really realized just how far she'd regressed, until now, when she couldn't even get a simple *and pathetically easy* expression down right.

And something told her that she still didn't know the true extent of her losses. She shook her head, and told herself to stop thinking like that. She racked her brain for that scent Kurama had had on him, that scent that was the girl's, and when she remembered it, started searching for it.

***

<Are you lost again?> The Voice asked.

"Shud ub," BHS said irritably.

<You are in an alley. How do you lose yourself here?> The Voice questioned.

"Dab id, I said shud up!" BNS yelled, startling a cat out of a nearby trashcan. After a moment, The Voice spoke again in her mind.

<Turn around.> The Voice sounded tense. BHS did as she was told, and let out a surprised gasp as she saw the animal slinking towards her. It was very tall, with long slender legs and ridiculously big paws. The copper-colored ruff looked almost like hair, and the intelligence in its eyes was frightening.

"Is it a wolf?" BHS asked out loud.

<Do wolves have orange eyes?> The Voice demanded.

"No…" BHS said. She was becoming very nervous now. The animal, whatever it was, had stopped a few feet away from her, and was now sitting, panting, with its tongue lolling out of its mouth and its tail wagging back and forth behind it. "For that matter," BHS said, taking a tentative step closer to it, "wolves don't have whiskers, either."

The animal raised one paw, and moved it in a sort of scooping gesture that seemed creepily close to what humans used to signal `Come here'. BHS looked at it for a moment, and took a few steps closer, until less than a foot separated them. She moved closer some more, until she could touch the animal, and then reached out a hand to it hesitantly.

It raised its snout and sniffed at her hand, and for a moment, seemed to be okay with her.

<Don't touch it!> The Voice said suddenly, urgently, surprising the girl.

"Wha-?" BHS asked. Just as she was about to pet the animal, it looked at her again, this time with hatred and fear in its eyes, and snapped at her hand, which she just barely managed to pull back.

Had she moved a split-second later, the animal's teeth would have clicked together not on empty space, but on her hand, and she had no doubt that those wicked fangs, broken as most of them were, could easily pierce her flesh. The animal glared at her, lips curled back from its teeth in a snarl, head down low to the ground with its ears flattened back against its skull. It had its weight on its back legs, ready at any moment to spring upon her and tear her throat out.

A low, menacing growl came from deep within its chest. BHS decided to leave before she became it's next meal. She inched her way around it, never once putting her back to it, until she was out of the alley. Then, she ran as fast as she could, not caring where she went, so long as it was away from that strange creature, which most certainly was not of this Earth, but some other realm entirely.

***

Kiiyra gradually stopped growling, and stopped snarling. She relaxed, forcing herself to think rationally. For just a moment, she'd felt a flash of power that any demon would recognize, and fear. To her, the aura had been quite familiar, in a way it wasn't to most others. She thought about it as she went back to the temple, and when she turned back to her other form, and put her pants and bandages back, she was still thinking about it. As she sat on the futon that she slept on in her room, she suddenly remembered where she knew that aura from.

"So," she growled, her eyes full of hatred, "ye're back, are ye? Well, well, isn't that a coincidence. I'll keep tabs on ye, oh I will."

"I promise ye I will," she said, a cruel, hateful smile spreading across her face, an insane smile usually associated with deranged psychotic killer, the kind of smile that would have made Jack the Ripper run away screaming `Mommy!' at the top of his lungs, and swear off killing forever.

"After all, me foine friend, how could I not? `Twouldn't be sportsy of me not to, and, unlike ye, I keep me promises." Her smile became even more frightening, and her voice grew bitter. "Oh, I will."

***

Drof: …What was THAT all about?!!!

Ford: WHY IS SHE ACTING LIKE THAT?!!! WHAT DID I DO TO HER?!!!

Kiiyra: YE DON'T REMEMBER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ford: *whispers to Kiiyra* It's for the audience, play along!

Kiiyra: Oh, I see.

Drof: Review. Or else. Or else what, you ask? *holds up teacup.* I have this teacup. It is Riddick's teacup. Review. Or else…*waves teacup threateningly.*