Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Realistic Fiction ❯ Of Pinky Swears and Snoopy Band-Aids ( Chapter 6 )

I sincerely doubt that Yuka will play any major roles in the future. She may show up from time to time when I need a named but disposable character, but that’s probably it.

Another note: I’m really sorry. The plotbunny for the second part of this chapter was just too fun (and stubborn) to pass up, so please don’t bite my head off. I was just in the right place at the right time... or vice versa.

And yet another note: The... change... that Aya undergoes will be reversed in the beginning of the chapter after next, at the latest.

One last note: Whenever I reread this chapter, I always read “fog” as “frog.” Heheh.

Right, on with the fic. I’m sure you’re now wondering what I’m talking about. If you aren’t... start wondering. Now. That is an order.

Of Pinky Swears and Snoopy Band-Aids

Genkai was looking Kuronue up and down when I arrived. “Well, isn’t this interesting. Seems people just don’t know how to stay dead these days.” She looked back to the three other boys, one of which was being healed by Yukina. “So he was resurrected? That’s it?”

“That’s all we know, yes,” confirmed Kurama.

“Hm.” She turned her attention to the approaching Hiei and I. “And who’s this?”

“Ah! Genkai-sensei!” I bowed deeply, having great respect for the old psychic. “Pleasure to meet you! I am Aya.”

“Hm,” she said again, before addressing Yusuke. “See, this is the kind of respect I should be getting from you.”

“Aw, shut up. She’s not usually like this.”

I cheerfully stuck my tongue out at him. “Nya nya, Yusuke-kun.”

“Oh, ‘nya’ yourself.”

I crossed my eyes in an attempt to look at myself. “Nya nya, Aya-chan.”

He sweatdropped. “I didn’t mean literally.”

Kurama sighed. “Aya has a talent for getting people off track. Shouldn’t we be focusing on Kuronue’s resurrection?”

Genkai nodded. “Un. The kitsune is right.”

Kuronue shrugged. “I’m not dead anymore. All in favor of leaving it at that, say ‘aye.’”

“Aye,” said four voices. Wait, four? There was Kuronue himself, Yusuke, me... and Misako.

Everyone, barring Genkai, jumped. Yukina, having completed healing Kuwabara, smiled at her. “Misako-chan, when did you get here?”

“Oh, just a minute ago,” she replied, waving a hand dismissively before proceeding to glomp Hiei. “Nee, Hi-chan’s a fast one, but I have finally caught him with my infamous surprise attack of doom!”

“Grk,” said Hiei.

I noticed Kuronue’s left eye was twitching violently as he stuttered, “Mi... Mi...”

“Kuro-chan!” squealed Misako, releasing Hiei, and glomped Kuronue.

Several eyebrows were raised. “You said you didn’t know her, Kuronue-kun,” said I.

“Grk,” said Kuronue.

“My sentiments exactly,” said Hiei.

“Oh, Kuro-chan and I go back,” explained Misako. “About ten years before I went into hibernation, I stalked him.”

“But then you agreed to leave me alone for the rest of my life, so that I could block out my memories of you!”

“I did. You died.”

“But that’s not fair! Were you the one that brought me back to life, just so you could stalk me again?”

“No. But don’t worry, my little bat!” Misako reassured the man about two feet taller than her. “I have a new target now. Hi-chan!” And so, Hiei was re-glomped.

“Great,” said Hiei sarcastically.

“I feel for you. I really do.”

“Hey,” interjected Kuwabara, “are we gonna figure out how this happened, or what?”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Yukina. “I’ll go make some tea!” She hurried off to do so.

Genkai nodded and led the rest of us inside, pausing as we removed our shoes, to what seemed to be the main room with a low, square dining table in the center and nodded for us to seat ourselves.

Before I could sit, however, Misako caught my arm. “I think Aya-chan and I need some female bonding time! Is that okay with everyone?” Without waiting for an answer, she pulled me towards the back of the building and outside to a zen garden. “Better, better!” the small demon witch sang, as she plopped down to sit on the porch and motioned for me to do the same.

“Mm!” I cheerfully followed her example and rubbed my sore feet. “Better, indeed!”

She smiled, and we sat like that for a moment before she tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to lean over. “I want to tell you something. Promise to keep it a secret?”

“Sure. Pinky swear,” I said, holding up my little finger.

Misako cocked her head to one side. “What’s that?”

“It’s for promises. We both get our little fingers like this, and do this, and then the promise can’t be broken, not that I ever break promises, anyway.” I was actually extremely strict about that.

“Okay, sounds good! Pinky swear!”

We linked fingers. “I promise to keep it a secret.”

“Right,” said Misako, once the ritual was complete, and whispered in my ear. “I was actually the one to bring Kuronue back.”

“But you said you didn’t.”

“No, I said I didn’t bring him back to life so that I could stalk him again.”

“Then why did you bring him back?”

Her smile changed, and her face and voice suddenly ceased to radiate the usual brightness that I had become so accustomed to. “I’ve always liked Kuronue. Somehow, you reminded me of him a little, and I started to miss him. He was the first person that really caught me interest and held it for more than a year, all by himself. A guy like him shouldn’t have died like that, and then Kurama resurfaced, well...” Her smile faded to almost nothing as her gaze grew distant. “I’d gotten to know Youko Kurama, too, since you couldn’t catch one without the other nearby. The two were inseparable. When Kuronue died, I began to worry about Kurama, because they had been so close... He blamed himself and fell into a deep depression. He grew careless, and not before long, he got shot. And all I could do was watch from a distance.”

Her eyes had lost their ever-present sparkle and her signature smile was completely gone. “Misako-chan...”

She shook her head and continued. “So when I found out Kurama was alive, though I could tell he had recovered, I didn’t want him to have to live with that guilt... and I didn’t want to, either. This is my first time messing with life and death and vice versa, and I don’t plan to do it again because it’s not right, but I couldn’t help it, you know?”

I nodded slowly. “...Does Misako-chan need a hug?” She was silent for a moment, then nodded and allowed me to my arms around her small figure like a mother to a child. Female bonding, indeed.

“...Ano, excuse me...”

We both jumped and released each other, not embarrassed in the least, and turned to see Yukina standing behind us, holding a tray with three cups of steaming tea.

Misako frowned, but in a confused, curious way. Her eyes had recovered their youthful light. “Nee, how long has Yukina-chan been there?”

“...I came in just as Aya-chan started to explain the pinky swear... I came to give you your tea, but you were so deeply engaged...” She knelt, setting the tray on the floor between us, and bowed in apology. “I’m very sorry.”

Misako smiled, back to her normal self. “Not a problem. Can you promise to keep it a secret, too?” She held out her little finger.

Yukina giggled and nodded, doing the same. “Okay. Pinky swear. I won’t tell.”

“And the pact is sealed.” Misako picked up her tea. “Nee, Yukina-chan, stay and drink with us!”

She giggled again. “Okay.”

We sat and sipped for a little while before something occurred to me. “Why do you want to keep it a secret?”

“Ah,” said Misako, “that would be because it’s fun to see them trying to figure out who did it when it was just me all along.”

“Ah.” We three giggled.

We drank and chatted about little things for a while. Kurama eventually found us.

“Oh, so that’s where you’ve been,” he said cordially, though he had probably been able to sense our energy (or at least mine) the whole time. “I hate to interrupt, but Aya, we’re going to stay a while longer, so would you mind going home and telling Mother that I’ll be out for a while longer and not to worry?”

“Will you be trying to figure out who did it?” inquired Misako slyly.

“...Yes...” He raised an eyebrow as the three of us giggled girlishly once more.

I cleared my throat, regaining my composure. “Right, sure, Kitsune-san. Yukina-chan, I don’t know where the kitchen is, so would you mind if I left the cup here...?”

She nodded. “I’ll take it back with the others.”

“Thank you.” With that, I set down my cup on the tray and left.

~~~

“Tell us the truth, Aya!”

“Yeah, the truth!”

“The truth!”

I gave an exasperated sigh. “I am telling the truth!” I hadn’t gotten very far from the bottom of the steps to Genkai’s temple before being ambushed by the fangirls as I was walking next to a less-supernatural section of the woods. “There is nothing between us, there has never been anything between us, and I doubt there ever will be anything between us! We! Are! Just! Friends!” Unfortunately. Damn.

“That can’t be all of it!” yelled one.

“Well, I hate to burst your bubble, girls,” I said, vaguely wondering where I had picked up that expression, “but it is. Get over it.”

“Yeah, right!”

“Thank you for believing me.” I brushed past them, only to be instantly re-surrounded.

“We know you’re hiding some- Hey, what's with that fog?”

“Hmm?” My eyes followed the leader-girl’s pointing finger, curious as to what had distracted the notoriously unwavering female. There was indeed a strange, silvery fog blanketing the woods beside us. It might not have seemed quite so odd if it hadn’t come to a abrupt halt along the edge of the line of trees. “I don’t know.”

“It’s pretty suspicious,” commented the first year member. The other five of us nodded.

“Un. Let’s go check it out,” said another. So-called rivalry aside, we all wandered closer.

“Could be dangerous.

“Definitely not normal.”

“Not at all.”

“Un. Hey,” said the apparent second-in-command, whose name I recalled to be Yuka, “I’m going in.”

“That might not be a good idea,” I said softly. They glanced at me, startled, having apparently forgotten my presence. “There are... a lot more dangers around here than you know, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Yuka shook her head. “If there’s something dangerous or supernatural in there, then someone needs to find out about it and warn people.”

I sighed, knowing that I would not be able to change her mind. “Yuka-san is braver than I originally gave her credit for, but please be cautious.”

The other four seemed startled at my sudden, out-of-character statement, but Yuka just nodded. “I’ll try.” With that, she walked forward to be quickly swallowed in the eerie mist.

The leader looked at me and asked the question that probably plagued all their minds. “Why... why are you worried about Yuka-chan when we’ve given you nothing but trouble?”

I smiled slightly, still staring after Yuka. “Because I am a fool,” I said simply and honestly.

“But-” She was interrupted by a scream that was suddenly cut off three seconds later. “Yuka!” she exclaimed, as the four started to rush to her rescue.

“No, wait!” I moved to block their path as the four began to rush into the forest for their friend. “I’ll go. Stay here! The less people involved, the better.”

“But she’s our friend-!”

“Trust me on this one! You have no idea what Yuka-san has gotten herself into!”

A female voice trailed after me as I ran off into the woods. “And you do?”

“Yes!” I lied over my shoulder. “Just stay there until one of us returns!”

As I darted between the trees, I scowled myself for being heroic, while simultaneously arguing that this was simply the wisest course of action. Not too wise for me, though.

I skidded to a halt as two figures came into view: Yuka and a tall man holding her captive. He was clearly inhuman. Two black, furry ears sat atop his head as an equally black cat tail swished predatorily behind him. His straight hair reached the top of his shoulders, and I found his yellow, slit-pupil feline eyes somewhat unnerving. I internally noted that he was probably a panther. Yuka just looked panicked, and for good reason, as the hand of said panther that wasn’t covering her mouth held her by the throat, her feet barely touching the ground.

“Who are you?” I demanded quietly, dangerously calm.

He grinned evilly, showing his sharp incisors. “Ah, a friend coming to the rescue?”

“No, an acquaintance acting as damage control,” I retorted without emotion. “You are not human, are you?”

“I’m not exactly hiding it.”

“So I’ve noticed. Put the girl down. She knows nothing of youkai.”

“Only if you take her place.”

I felt my eyes narrow. “So be it.”

He chuckled and dropped the wide-eyed Yuka, who promptly zipped over to me.

“You don’t have to-” she started.

“Yes, I do,” I interrupted. “Now listen, Yuka-san. The first thing you must do as you leave here is swear your friends to secrecy. Then, as soon as possible, and this is important, find Shuichi and tell him what happened. He should be at the temple. Understand?”

She bit her lip uncertainly. “What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“Tell him I said that if he doesn’t get his stupid kitsune ass on it immediately and I die or something, I’m so gonna haunt him till he goes crazy and attempts to gouge his own eyes out with a spoon, which would be a shame because he’s got damn pretty eyes. Tell him that in those exact words.”

“I can’t say that!”

“Exactly. Which is why he’ll know that I said it, not you. Got it?” She nodded numbly. “Good. Now go, and hurry.” She nodded again before running off in the direction from which I had come.

I heard the panther’s smooth, mocking voice as she left. “That was a long goodbye.”

I turned around wordlessly and treated him to a mild glare. He chuckled and let it pass.

“Now, then,” said the youkai, walking towards me, “down to business. From what I can tell, you fit the requirements nicely.”

“What are these ‘requirements’, and what are they for?” I asked, standing my ground.

“I need a human: someone intelligent, clear-headed, and not immediately inclined to attack me.”

“Now for the second part of the question.”

“My experiment.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Specify.”

He grinned evilly and grabbed my wrist before holding out his other hand in front of him, creating a swirling mass of color - a portal. “You, my dear, will soon be a demon yourself.” My eyes widened involuntarily (a slip-up for which I immediately scolded myself) and he hopped through the portal, yanking me in after him.

We emerged in some sort of lab. It was a large, round room of metal, with computers, buttons, and other doohickeys lining the wall, except for about a fifth of it, which was occupied by a huge, empty TV screen in place of the metal plates that were apparently the new, stylish alternative to that boring old wallpaper.

Basically, it looked like a control room from Star Wars or something. The unnamed demon led me to the center of the room (that would soon be appearing in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens right after Misako’s garden), stopping just outside a high, circular cage, about two meters in diameter. Then he picked up a syringe from a small, conveniently-placed metal counter. “I’ll need a blood sample and have it analyzed before you undergo the transformation, so that the most appropriate form can be determined,” he explained.

The color quickly drained from my face as I jerked my arm out of his grip. “No!” He gave me an odd look and I elaborated, “Irrational fear of needles.”

The nameless youkai rolled his yellow eyes and grabbed my arm again. “Too bad.”

I cringed, shut my eyes tight, and turned away, biting my lip. I barely held back a shiver as I felt his fingers gently probing for a vein.

“Pale skin,” he muttered. “That makes things easier.” There was a brief moment of pain, then, “There. Done. Honestly, what a stupid thing to be afraid of.”

“Shut up,” I cleverly retorted, applying pressure to the tiny prick to ease the even tinier flow of blood. As he began to walk away towards some random machine thing, I angrily exclaimed, “Oi, wait!”

He turned, an expression of vague annoyance and confusion on his face. “What?”

“Where’s my Snoopy band-aid?” I glared at his incredulous stare. “You know, the Snoopy band-aid! You’re supposed to give me one after using a syringe on me!” Why it was always Snoopy, I didn’t know. Well, sometimes it was Winnie the Pooh.

He shook his head slowly and chose to ignore my little outburst. I fake-pouted (since I could actually care less) and watched boredly as he put my blood into some mechanical thingamabob before No-Name walked back over to me, a large, hinged metal bracelet-like thing in hand.

I cocked my head to one side like a puppy. “Whassat?”

The evil grin returned with his reply. “This lovely little device will keep you under my control once you’re no longer human,” he said, snapping the thing shut around my upper arm. He then pushed me into the person-cage and shut the door, smirking in satisfaction.

“Oh. Is it? Okay.”
If he was at all startled by my nonchalant reaction, he was even more surprised at the sudden sound of an alarm. “What...?” The unnamed panther rushed over to the giant TV monitor and rapidly started pressing buttons, causing several views from security cameras to pop up.

“Jeez, is this whole freaking place made of metal?” I wondered aloud.

He ignored me, staring in morbid astonishment as one of the images grew to fill the screen.

I stared, too. “Oh, hey. It’s my buddies. That was quick.”

No-Name whirled around to face me. “Why didn’t you tell me you personally knew the Reikai Tantei?”

I shrugged. “Never asked.”

The demon let out a strangled cry as another figure appeared on the screen. “And Koenma!”

I blinked. “Actually, I haven’t met Koenma-sama yet.”

There was a ding. No-Name jumped, then smiled crazily, darted to the other side of the room, and pulled a lever, causing a cylindrical, glass-like wall to drop around my cage. I looked up as I heard a hiss to see some sort of gas filling the sealed chamber, while at the same time, Yusuke blasted open a trap door about five meters to my left and hopped into the room, closely followed by Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Koenma, in that order.

Mister Nameless faced them, but it was hard to make out his expression, due to the strange smoke gradually clouding my vision. “You’re too late!”

“You-!” came Yusuke’s voice.

I had a feeling I forgetting something.

“Yusuke, wait!” Kurama.

Oh, yeah.

“If you kill him now, she’ll die! Thanks to the control device I described earlier, their lives are linked!” A new voice, Koenma.

There, now that that was taken care of...

“No!” Kuwabara.

“Damnit! You bastard!” Yusuke.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”No-Name.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for her now.” Koenma.

“...” An audible silence. Hiei.

“...The process seems to be complete.” Kurama.

And indeed it was. Yusuke let out a long string of loud curses as the entire cage lifted.

My new, brown-black wolf ears (the same color as my hair) flattened against my head. “Shut up already!” Well, my voice was the same. They obliged as the gas-stuff dissipated. I glared at the lot of them, flicking my tail as my ears moved back into their ‘natural’ position.

“Now,” said the nameless youkai, whom I suspected to have completely lost it, “your first orders... how about... Kill the intruders!”

Koenma backed away and the other four reluctantly fell into defensive stances. I noticed that my clothes had changed, too - probably to accommodate the tail, or maybe it was like when Kurama goes Youko. You know those spiffy things Kurama wore during the Dark Tournament, with the pants, and the long tunic-y-ish thing that’s really not very tunic-y? That’s what I now wore, though mine was all black, with the exception of the dark red trim. ...Cool. (Note that the outfit is special - not me. I obviously needed a change of clothes, so why not? And where does Kurama get his clothes, anyway?)

“Well?”

I glanced over to the demon without a name. “Well, what?”

“How about sometime today?”

“How about not?” I blandly held up the metal bracelet in my left hand, smirking. “Oh, this fashionable little piece? Hate to break it to ya, buddy, but one size does not fit all. This sort of thing happens when you’re really freaking skinny. ...You look like a fish, stupid.”

He was gaping at me. “But... but...”

“But nothing.” I dashed over to him (woah, fast) and held him in the air by his neck. Not very far up, though, as he was taller than me. I grinned, showing off my new fangs and flicking my tail. “This is pretty cool, you know. I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to have a tail.”

Kurama was the first to find his voice. “Aya,” he said cautiously, walking towards me.

I smiled widely. “Yeeeesss?”

“Put him down.”

I shrugged and dropped him. “Sure. I don’t want him, anyway.”

There was a universal sigh of relief, some louder than others. I could hear them all, thanks to my uber-spiffy demon hearing. Kurama bound the demon in his vines. I lazily clasped my hands behind my head, eyebrows raised as he began to walk towards me.

He stopped about a meter away. “Aya?”

“Mm hmm?”

“Have you... changed?”

“No, of course not,” I said, thickly coating my words with amused sarcasm. “I’ve always had a tail and stuff. You’ve just never noticed until now.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, I know.” I smiled reassuringly. “Nah. I’m still the same screwed-up female as always.” I got a warm feeling in my chest as he returned the smile, relieved, but... “That is, if you ignore this crazy-strong urge to slaughter everything in sight. Weird, that.”

Insert loud silence here.

“...BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”I collapsed on the cold floor in a heap of laughter. “Oh, God,” I eventually managed to croak, “should’ve seen... should’ve seen... Oh, God, I wish I had a camera... priceless... Another Kodak moment for ya... Oh, God.” I dissolved into a fit of giggles.

I felt four eyes glaring (Yusuke was laughing, too, Kuwabara just rolled his eyes, and Hiei wore a permanent glare, anyway) at me, so I coughed and stood up. “Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t resist. Yeah, I’m fine. I still wouldn’t hurt a fly. Only changes are purely physical.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Koenma. “But you seem to have developed a twisted sense of humor.”

The other four corrected him in unison: “She’s always been like that.”

I beamed proudly, then blinked, then bowed. “Ah! I forget myself. Nice to meet you in person, Koenma-sama.”

“Nice to meet you, too, though I would have preferred it to be under better circumstances.”

Now it was Yusuke’s turn to blink. “Hey, wait a second! I just noticed something! I’ve saved the world several times over and you know it, but you’ve never treated me with an ounce of respect!”

“Hmm, you’re right,” I agreed thoughtfully, actually wondering why it had taken so long for him to notice. “Hmm... Urameshi-sama. ...NYAHAHAHA! Ah, I’m hurting my own ears here.”

“Let’s get down to business,” said Koenma before Yusuke could yell at me.

I nodded, calming. “Yes, yes.”

“Aya,” he addressed. “You can’t very well live in the human world as normal, and both the Reikai and the Makai are out of the question. Until further notice, you’ll have to stay at Genkai’s with Yukina and Kuronue.”
I gave him a thumbs-up. “No problem-o, Koenma-sama. I was thinking the same thing.”

Hiei finally said something. “I doubt Genkai will appreciate this.”

“Yeah,” agreed Yusuke. “Knowing Aya, she’ll probably drive Grandma crazy.”

Kurama sweatdropped. “I’m sure Genkai will get enough annoyance from Kuronue as it is.”

Kuwabara, surprisingly, looked thoughtful. “Maybe Aya will distract him and they can bug each other, canceling both of ‘em out.”

I clapped while the others merely stared. “Great idea, Kuwabara-kun!”

“...That just might work,” said the other four in unison. Synchronized statements, maybe?

“So, Aya,” said Koenma, recovering from the shock of Kuwabara being smart, “I trust you have no objections?”

I beamed. “Nope, I’m fine with it!”

Koenma nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”

And the scene faded to black.

~~~

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Must conserve energy... must conserve energy... HAHAHAHAHA! Ha...”

“Never mind. I figured it out.”

“Congratulations, Kuwabara.”

“Hey, watch it, Shorty!”

“I said, let’s go.”

~~~

What will happen when they reach Genkai’s? How will Genkai ever put up with both Aya and Kuronue? (Actually, she'll ignore them both.) Will Koenma find a cure? And what's this about Lord Fujimori's enchanted sword? Stay tuned to find out...

“Aya? What are you doing?”

Quiet, Kurama! I’m setting the suspense here!

“...What?”

Ha, confused the kitsune. I mean, shut up already!

“Where are your quotation marks?”

“Damnit, Kitsune! Look what you did!”

“Ah, they’re back.”

“You’re not even supposed to know about the quotation marks!”

“What quotation marks?”

“...Damnit!”