Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Intertwinement ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1:

 

“When Lily opened her eyes once again, she realized that this was no dream. She was in a different world, a place where magic reigned supreme and demons scoured the land. No longer would she awake from a good night's sleep in her nice warm bed, safe in her house from any outside evil. Fear would now follow her wherever she went. Her only hope lay in the Suishou no Toitsu, the three-piece crystal which, when brought together, would allow her the power to return home. And so, her search began.”

 

Hope lowered the notebook in her hands and returned to her seat. Many of the students clapped as she sat down, and she felt her face grow even hotter. Darn Din and Jessa for electing her to read their story to the class. She sent them a glare. Jessa grinned innocently and Din just gave her a “Ha ha, sucks for you” smile.

 

“Very nicely done, girls,” Mrs. Brown said. “The introduction is very attention grabbing, as it should be, and you used superb grammar.” She gave the three girls a proud smile. “Now, who would like to go next?”

 

When the bell rang, the girls filed into the hall and headed for the cafeteria. Since they were Freshman, they all had A lunch together, and they also had a lot of the same classes. That was actually how they had met, and it hadn't taken long for them to become fast friends.

 

“I'm mad at you,” Hope grumbled to the blond and the short redhead walking on either side of her. “I hate getting up in front of the class.”

 

Din smiled up at her. Even though Hope was one of the shortest girls in the school, standing only at 5'2, Din was even shorter, barely reaching 5'0. “Yes, but so do we, and since Jessa has a sore throat, we picked you instead.”

 

“Thanks,” Hope muttered sarcastically, rolling her blue eyes.

 

“Don't worry, Hope! At least Mrs. Brown liked it!” Jessa put in cheerfully. She then burst into a fit of coughs.

 

“Why are you even at school?” Din asked the sputtering blond. “If you're this sick, you should be at home.”

 

“It's my dumb mother's fault. She said I was faking it to get out of presenting our project to the class, so she forced me to come!” Jessa said.

 

The girls reached the crowded cafeteria and headed into the double doors. The smell of overcooked fried food wafted in the air, and they wrinkled up their noses. “Are they ever going to give us something decent to eat?” Hope asked, eyeing the blobby black lumps that were supposed to be chicken.

 

“It's cafeteria food. Of course not,” Din said. Reluctantly, they grabbed trays and walked down the line. The cafeteria lady frowned when Jessa began coughing again. Hope and Din rolled their eyes helplessly.

 

After managing to find three empty seats at the overfilled tables, the girls picked at their food for a little while, but silently mutually agreed that the food was even less edible than usual, and wound up throwing everything away and heading to the vending machines outside the cafeteria instead. Lunch was the only time students were allowed to go outside, and only Seniors were allowed to sit at the picnic tables, although some Underclassmen ate there anyway. For the most part, the teachers didn't care, since the cafeteria was too small to hold all of the students.

 

Hope and Din started digging in their purses for a dollar; Jessa didn't have any money. That was when they heard the noise. It was a rumbling sound, low at first, maybe like a lawn mower, and then gradually it began to grow louder and louder, and wind began whipping past them. They turned around to see a huge black hole hovering in midair just behind them.

 

“What the hell?” Din screamed, but her voice was lost in the loud rumbling.

 

While they stared, a huge green monster, beady red eyes darting around, climbed through the hole. Its eyes fell on the girls, and it lunged towards them. Hope, Din, and Jessa stumbled backwards, trying to run away, but the monster caught them in its giant clawed hand and carried them screaming into the black hole.

 

At first they could hear only a sound like wind rushing by them and one another's screams, and then everything fell into an icy silence and darkness surrounded them.

 

~*~

 

The sounds of traffic zooming by reached Hope's ears. She opened her eyes and sat up, staring at the tall trees surrounding her. Where was she? She stood up, and looked around. Maybe this was the forest behind the school? She began to follow the car noises until she reached the edge of the forest and stood before a busy street. Hope blinked at the people hurrying along on the sidewalk. They were all…Asian?

 

“What happened?” she said under her breath. Closing her eyes, she thought back a moment. She was at school with Jessa and Din, and then...Oh. Some sort of black hole thing had appeared, and this monster had grabbed them and pulled them into. So Din and Jessa had to be here too.

 

“Din! Jessa!” she called, attracting some stares. Her friends didn't seem to be there. She frowned and went back into the forest, calling them again. Only the sound of the wind rustling the treetops answered her. Din and Jessa weren't there either.

 

“What do I do?” Hope wondered. “I have no clue where I am.” She wandered back out to the street and looked around. Her eyes fell on an elderly couple; maybe they could help her.

 

She ran up to them. “Um, excuse me.” The man and woman turned around, giving her an odd look. “I'm sorry, I got separated from my friends and now I'm lost. Do you think you could help me?”

 

They eyed her curiously again and exchanged looks. The man said something Hope couldn't understand and they left her standing in the middle of the sidewalk, feeling like an idiot. She sighed. This wasn't getting off to a good start. The man seemed to speak a different language. Chinese, maybe? Japanese? She'd heard Japanese before thanks to Din's anime obsession, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it sounded like.

 

“Um, does anyone speak English? Anyone?” she asked hesitantly to the people walking past her. “Hello? English? English, please?” People just brushed past and ignored her. She bit her lip. This was starting to look hopeless. She smirked a little at the poor pun.

 

“E-excuse me,” a voice said behind her with a thick accent. Hope's ears perked up at the familiar words and she turned around to see a girl around her age, about Jessa's height, with brown hair tied in two low ponytails around her shoulders. She was dressed in a school uniform.

 

“Do you speak English?” Hope asked eagerly.

 

“A little bit,” the girl said. “Do you need help?”

 

“Yeah, I have no idea where I am, and I don't know where my friends are and nobody can understand me!”

 

The girl paused for a moment. “Sorry,” she said. “Could you say that again?”

 

“Oh, sorry. I got separated from my friends and I'm lost,” she said, trying to speak more slowly so the girl could keep up.

 

“Oh, I see,” the girl said thoughtfully. “I do not know how to find your friends but you may come to my house and use the phone.”

 

“Can I, please?” Hope asked.

 

The girl smiled and nodded. “This way.” Hope followed the girl. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure who she was going to call. Wait, Din had a cell phone.

 

They arrived at the girl's house shortly afterwards. It was very small, Hope noted. The girl slid her shoes off before going inside, and a little uncertainly, Hope followed suit. “<I'm home!>” the girl called in her language. By now, Hope had mostly decided it was Japanese, but she still wasn't sure.

 

A middle-aged man wearing slacks and a button-up shirt came in. Hope guessed he was the girl's father. “<Hello, Keiko, how was your day?>” His eyes fell on Hope and lingered on her dirty blond hair. “<Who is this? A foreigner?>”

 

“<I ran into her on the street,>” Keiko explained. “<She says she got separated from her friends and now she's lost, so I offered to let her use our phone. She only speaks English.>”

 

The man turned to Hope. “Welcome to our house, Miss,” he said in fluent English. “My name is Mr. Yukimura and this is my daughter, Keiko.” He indicated to the girl who smiled kindly.

 

“Um, it's nice to meet you Mr. Yukimura, and Keiko,” Hope said.

 

“The phone is right in here if you would like to use it,” Mr. Yukimura said. He led her into the living room, and pointed at the phone on the wall.

 

“Thank you,” Hope said. She walked over to the phone and started to dial, but paused. Would a cell phone even work in a different country? She shrugged and dialed it in anyway. It couldn't hurt. The phone rang twice, and then she heard a recorded voice saying something in the foreign language. She sighed and hung up. It was no good after all.

 

“Did you meet your friend?” Keiko asked.

 

Hope turned to her. `Meet?' Oh, she meant talk to. She shook her head. “I guess her phone doesn't work here, or she has it turned off.”

 

“I'm sorry,” Keiko said sympathetically. “Did you have a place if you separated?”

 

Hope thought about the question for a moment, trying to figure out what Keiko was trying to say. “Oh, no. To tell the truth, I'm not even sure how I got here.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Hope paused for a second, thinking. How much could she tell this girl without her thinking she was insane? Certainly not about the monster and the black hole. Hope wasn't even sure if she believed that. “The last thing I remember is being in America, and then I woke up and I was here.”

 

“That is strange. Do you think it is am-ammonia?” Keiko asked.

 

“You mean amnesia? I don't know,” Hope said, shaking her head. “I just want to go back home.”

 

“You may stay here for awhile until you find your friends,” Keiko offered.

 

“Won't your parents mind?”

 

Keiko shook her head. “I do not think. I will ask.” She ran into the other room, and Hope heard her talking to her dad. A few minutes later, Keiko came back in. “It is fine, if you want,” she said.

 

“Thank you so much!” Hope cried. She was still utterly confused about where she was, or what had happened to her and her friends, but at least she had somewhere to stay until she could figure things out.