Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Summer Time ❯ Chapter Eleven ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Eleven: New Plans

I walked into the dining room, Hiei not too far behind me, and saw Kurama sitting at a table in his demon form. He already had a plate of food (Mainly doughnuts. He had about ten of them.), and he looked very bored.

"Enjoy your shower?" I asked him, smiling as I sat down next to him. I stole a doughnut from his plate and proceeded to eat it.

"Yes, of course," he answered. "So where did you go?" He began to eat a doughnut as well.

"The exercise room. I got to meet Jacinth. She's really nice," I said. "She's pretty too. She's got orange skin and blond hair. I helped her with a guy problem."

"Sounds like you had an interesting hour," Kurama commented.

"Yeah," I responded. "We talked for a while. She told me a lot of interesting things." I suddenly saw a girl walking over towards our table. "Speak of the devil." It was Jacinth.

I stood up to greet her. I wanted to know what had happened between her and Zices afterward the incident with Rali.

Jacinth rushed over to me and gave me a quick hug. "You are so amazing! He finally did it!" She released me so I could see her smiling face and the mark on her shoulder.

"Good. I thought that the plan would work," I replied, briefly clapping my hands together with joy. "It's so nice to see you smiling."

"I haven't been this happy in ages. You're a great friend!" Jacinth gave me another hug.

"Thank you," I said, feeling a little embarrassed but still pleased. "By the way, this is Kurama, my lover."

"It's very nice to meet you," Jacinth greeted him. Kurama nodded in acknowledgment. "Well," she continued. "I gotta get back to Zices. I'll see you later!"

As Jacinth ran off, I sat back down. "She's such a sweet girl, and she loves Zices very much." I watched Jacinth sit down by Zices and begin talking animatedly. "They make the cutest couple as well."

"Yes, they do," Kurama agreed. "They rank right up there next to us."

"Awww." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You are the sweetest man I have ever met. You always seem to know exactly what to say."

"Um... thanks," Kurama replied, blushing slightly.

"You're welcome," I told him, finishing off my doughnut. "Oh, I need to talk to you after the matches today. You should find what I have to say very interesting."

"I wonder what it could possibly be," he responded, keeping his tone light and playful.

"You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?" I teased, giving one of his silver strands a gentle tug. His hair was so silky in his demon form.

"I guess I will," Kurama answered, reaching over to pull on my braid in return. "You forgot to take out your braid."

"Hmmm... so I did." I turned so that my back was facing Kurama. "Would you please take it out then?" My voice was sweet and coaxing.

Kurama pulled out the rubber band at the end of my braid. "Of course. It would be my pleasure." He slowly began to finger comb my hair out, his touch very gentle and soft.

Before I knew it, I was purring again. With an extreme force of will, I quieted it until it was nothing but a mere rumble in the back of my throat. I could barely hear it with my sensitive cat ears, much to my delight. My tail did rapidly swish back and forth.

When Kurama was done with my hair, he gave my ears a very delicate tweak. "Finished," he whispered to me.

"Thank you," I said, turning around and smiling at him. "Now, are you finished with breakfast?" I looked at his still-full plate that he had barely touched.

"Yeah," he replied. "I realized after I got all of the food that I wasn't really hungry."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Wanna go to the coliseum then? I would like to find out how many matches we're going to have this morning."

"It sounds perfectly alright with me," Kurama answered, standing up. He pulled out my chair for me as I stood up as well. I kissed him on the cheek as I thanked him. He was such a gentlemen. I couldn't help but wonder where he had learned all the manners and such. Why would the once greatest thief in all Makia know so many human customs?

I brushed my thoughts aside. Kurama was a gentlemen, and I wasn't about to question him. If he wished to act that way, then I was most definitely not going to do anything to jeopardize the continuation of his good manners.

Happy, I walked out of the room with Kurama right beside me, his arm around my shoulders.

In the coliseum...

"Three fights this morning? That's it?" I asked Koto. She was the one who had been put in charge for scheduling the fights.

"That seems to be it. We also have four fights after supper," she replied, looking at a piece of paper. "Next week we begin the challenges."

"Challenges?" I repeated, feeling a little lost. I couldn't remember anything about challenges.

Koto looked at me with surprise on her face. "Yeah, that's when one mercenary challenges another mercenary to a fight, just 'cause they want to. Sometimes they have scores to settle, other times they just fight because they want to prove themselves."

"Perhaps I shall have to challenge that annoying male cat demon who kept bothering you..." Kurama said, his smile deadly.

"Why? You already know that you'll be able to beat him," I inquired, curious.

Kurama looked down at me. "To put him in his place. He threatened you. He should know what happens to those who attack someone's mate."

"Ohhh, public humiliation," Koto commented with a happy sigh. She really did love her violence. "I want to see that fight. So much pain."

"Um... yeah, whatever," I said, frowning slightly. I wasn't sure if I liked Kurama being so... vengeful. It's not like the guy had hurt me or anything. "Kurama," I whispered in his ear. "It that really necessary? He did cause you to mark me and claim me as yours. Maybe we owe him a thank you."

"You may have a point there," Kurama replied, giving me a quick kiss. He traced the mark on my shoulder with a finger. "Perhaps he did us a favor."

"I think that he did," I agreed, cuddling up next to him.

"I think I'm lost," Koto stated, looking at Kurama and then at me.

I smiled kindly at her. "Don't worry about it."

"Fine then," Koto responded, shrugging. "But you better get down to the fighting arena. The first fight starts in a few minutes."

"Oh! You're right," I said, feeling very foolish for having lost track of time. "Thank you!" I gave Kurama a quick kiss on the check and ran off down to the stage.

I grabbed my microphone and jumped up onto the concrete platform. The audience immediately began to shout before I could even say a word.

I waited a minute or so for them to calm down, and then I began to announce who the fighters would be. "It seems that we have Rali against Tnegar. Will those two fighters please come to the center of the ring?"

The ugly werewolf demon got up on the stage right as a snake demon did. As Rali got closer to me, I could tell that he smelled awful. Did he never bathe or something?

"All right! Let the fight begin!!" I shouted, backing up to the edge of the ring. I wanted to be very far away from Rali and his stench.

Rali and Tnegar fought, their claws and teeth tearing into each other.

"It seems that we have a bloody battle here," I shouted, trying to sound cheerful like I was suppose to. "It looks like the two are taking the battle very personally. Do they have an old score to settle?"

With a loud howl, Rali sent Tnegar flying out of the ring. Tnegar hit the ground outside of the ring and didn't get back up.

"It seems that Tnegar is unconscious," I announced, looking at the fallen demon. "Unless he can get back into the ring very soon, Rali will be the winner." I began to count, and when I finally got to ten, Tnegar still hadn't moved. "Rali is the winner of the fight!" I paused for a moment. "Now, can we get someone to take care of Tnegar? He don't look so good."

A while later...

Kurama and I were back in our room. The other two fights had been very uneventful, as had lunch. Now that it was afternoon, we had some free time.

"So what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Kurama asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He looked at me, an expression of curiosity on his face. He seemed to be looking forward to whatever I had to say.

I went over and sat down next to him, putting my head on his shoulder. "I got some information out of Jacinth that might be useful. While she was flirting with some of the guards downstairs, she learned that they were guarding three objects. She says that there are no human slaves down there for sale. Jacinth didn't know the exact names of any of the objects, but she did think that one of the names was like 'horn hope'."

"That sounds very familiar," Kurama said, pulling me close. "It might be the Forlorn Hope that she's talking about."

"And the other two items might be the Orb of Baal and the Shadow Sword," I added with a sad sigh. "If they are the three items, then Koenma is going to be in big trouble. They might also be fakes. The thing is, who would have the ability to steal the three items? You were the one who had to steal them the last time. Does anyone's thieving ability come even close to yours?"

I suddenly had the greatest desire to get up and pace, but I resisted the urge. I wanted to stay curled up next to Kurama. So I could do something, the end of my tail began to twitch agitatedly. It was better than nothing, and it was certainly better than pacing.

"If the Orb of Baal, the Forlorn Hope, and the Shadow sword are here," Kurama began. "Then plans need to be changed. The others are going to have to be informed of this new development."

"We're going to have to think of a way to do that without arousing suspicion," I said, biting my bottom lip. Things were getting difficult now. "Perhaps you could teleport to their room. Surely you could locate Yusuke's spirit energy, or even Kuwabara's..." I drifted off, trying to think of something.

"I can sense Yusuke now, but the signal is very faint. It is much easier to locate you," Kurama told me, touching the necklace around my neck and the earrings in my ears. "These help me find you. Since my spirit energy was used on them, they're very easy to find. It is too bad that Yusuke doesn't have anything like this."

"I did give Kuwabara some special healing balm that I made out of aloe vera," I replied, closing my eyes. "It seems that he brought it with too. It's on the first floor, almost directly above us." Searching for my spirit energy was easy, even when it had been used. I could sense the jar of healing balm with a little concentrate. To my mind's eye, it looked like a little ball of light. "I think that Yusuke brought his punching bag as well."

"Perhaps you will have to be the one to talk to them," Kurama said, looking up at the ceiling. "You were the one who talked to Jacinth after all. Besides, I can't sense the healing balm, but you can."

"You do have a good point," I admitted, then gave Kurama a smile. "It looks like I have something to do after supper then."

Half an hour after supper... (AN: Man, do I skip a lot of time or what?)

"Well, Kurama, start praying that they're actually in their room," I said, getting up off of my bed.

"I think that at least one of them is in the room, but I don't know who might be with him," Kurama replied, going over and giving me a quick kiss. "That's for good luck."

"Thanks," I told him with a smile. "I'll have to go in my demon form just in case. Hopefully they won't die of shock or anything."

"I'm sure that they won't," he assured me. "Now get going. I can't go explore the fourth level until you get back."

I shook my head, chuckling at him. "I'll be back as soon as I can," I promised, then teleported to where I sensed the gifts I had given the guys for Christmas.

Appearing in a room, I looked around. I didn't see anyone. Where could Yusuke and Kuwabara possibly be? I could sense the healing balm nearby, and Yusuke's punching bag was hanging in the corner, but the guys weren't anywhere that I could see.

At least their room was warmer, not to mention larger. There was also two beds, but other than that, the room looked remarkably similar to Kurama's and mine.

"Yusuke!" I hissed as loud as I dared. "Kuwabara! Where are you?!" I waited for a few minutes, but still nothing. "Yusuke Urameshi! Kuzuma Kuwabara!" No response. "Yukina's here!" I called out, a little louder than before.

A carrot top suddenly barged into the room, his eyes wide. "Yukina?!" he cried, sounding very excited.

"No, Kuwabara," I said, arms crossed. "It's just me, Kaline. Now go get Yusuke. I need to talk to the both of you."

"Hey! Who do you think you are, coming into my room without permission?" Kuwabara demanded to know, ignoring what I had just said.

"This has to do with the mission," I continued, voice hinting at anger. "Now go get Yusuke before I have to go get Hiei and tell him that you took Yukina out on a date last week."

"Kaline?!" he asked, very surprised. He stared at me. "But Kaline's a human!"

"Just go get Yusuke," I ordered, glaring at him. "I'll explain everything when the both of you are in here with the door closed and locked."

"Okay, fine," Kuwabara replied, turning around to leave.

"Oh, and don't tell anyone about me. I'm trying to keep a low profile," I told him.

"Low profile?" Kuwabara mumbled to himself. "The officiator for the matches is tryin' to keep a low profile?" He continued to mutter as he left the room.

"Maybe Hiei was right," I said to myself, sighing. "Kuwabara can be a stupid ningen at times."

A few minutes later, Kuwabara pushed Yusuke into the room.

"What's this all about, Kuwabara?" Yusuke demanded to know. "It better be important. I was busy working out!" Kuwabara shut and locked the door once the both of them were inside. Yusuke hadn't seen me yet because he was still facing Kuwabara.

"Don't worry, Yusuke," I said, voice calm. "It is important."

"Oh, hello, Kaline," Yusuke said, turning around to face me. "I was wondering when you'd get in touch."

"You actually knew that this was our Kaline?" Kuwabara asked, staring at Yusuke in amazement. "How did you figure that out?"

"It was simple, moron," Yusuke replied. "We know what Kurama looks like in his demon form. Considering that the girl that was always with him was named Kaline, it was kind of easy to figure out. It's not rocket science."

"Hey, it's not like she looks like our Kaline!" Kuwabara retorted, his hackles rising. "Our Kaline is a human! This girl is obviously a demon!"

"Kuwabara, shut up!" I shouted. "Yes, I'm a demon. I'm half demon to be exact." Scowling, I summoned up my spirit energy and assumed my human form. "Is that better?"

"Um... let's see here," Kuwabara muttered. "Golden brown hair, blue-gray eyes... yep! You're our Kaline."

"Lord, help us all," I said, looking up at the ceiling.

"So what's this all about?" Yusuke asked, leaning up against the wall. In all that Yusuke did, he had to act macho first.

I smiled, happy to get down to business. "I have reason to believe that there are no human slaves on this ship," I answered quickly. "I talked to a girl named Jacinth, who has been down to the fourth level. She has talked to some guards down there, and she has a slight idea about what they're protecting."

"Are you going to tell us what they're guarding?" Yusuke inquired, being his normal, punk self.

"I will if you'll shut up long enough," I retorted. I was use to dealing with him. "Jacinth told me that there are three items down there. She says that one's called something like the 'horn hope'. I'm thinking that she was talking about the Forlorn Hope."

"What's that?" Kuwabara asked, giving me a look of confusion.

"It's a very special item that is suppose to be in Reikai with Koenma or his father. If the three objects are here, then we have a serious problem," I replied, frowning.

"There's three of them?" the carrot top wondered, an amazed look on his face.

Yusuke sighed. "No, stupid. The items are all different. The Forlorn Hope is like a mirror. It can grant any wish in return for your life. The Shadow Sword can turn humans into very low-level demons. Then there's the Orb of Baal. That can be used to steal people's souls."

"Ah, man!" Kuwabara shouted. "Those things sound dangerous!"

"They are, Kuwabara," I told him, exasperated. He had a thing for stating the obvious. The items... dangerous... well, duh! Like a sword that could turn people into demons and a ball that could steal souls wouldn't be dangerous.

"It sounds like we need to change our plans a bit," Yusuke said finally.

And with that, the three of us put our heads together to come up with some new plans.