Disclaimer: Yu*Yu*Hakusho (and all its characters) belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.
Shining Cat Chapter One: Prelude to Solitude --- "Kaasan!" Kurama ran toward his mother, happily holding up his string of fish, "Look at all the fish I got! Keisuke and I got a whole bunch of fish!" "Good job, Kurama!" she smiled at him. "This'll be very good for dinner." She stroked his long silver hair as she got her own white hair out of the way. "Kaasan, you're tickling my ears!" he giggled and hung on to her arm. "gomen, Kurama-kun!" There was a crash at the end of the village as a horde of demons came into view, killing everything left and right. "Kurama, let's get out of here!" lifting her young son on her shoulder, she made a break for it toward the woods as someone grabbed her other shoulder and turned her around. "Hello, nurse!" A dark shape hovered over her. Quickly, she put her son down and guarded him with her body. "Kurama, go, run!" she whispered to him, "I'll try to hold him off!" "Kaasan!" he clung to one of her tails. "Do as you're told!" she pushed him away toward the woods, "This'll keep us connected, get out of here!" Kurama clutched on to what his mother gave him and ran into the woods sniffing. Night came and the chaos subsided. Kurama crawled down from the tree that he had taken refuge in and ran back to the village. Around him, were corpses of people he knew, his childhood friend Keisuke, Keisuke's mother, the butcher, the baker, and candle stick maker (oh god, I can't believe I put that! ME: No, keep it there! It's funny!). He ran toward the back of the village and gasped. There, lying on the ground was the body of his mother, her clothes torn off and body bloody. Her long white hair was matted with blood, as were her tails. "Kaasan... Kaasan..." he said over and over until he was shouting it, "KAASAN!!! KAASAN!!!!! KAASAN!!!!" Kurama buried his face in her hair and wept bitterly, dropping his mother's treasure on the ground. He felt some wind and looked up to see someone swiping it. "No... NO!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!! THAT BELONGED TO MY MOTHER!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!" Kurama ran as fast as he could after the figure but he tripped over a tree root, the only thing he could see was that the thief had long black hair. --- Kurama gasped and sat up in bed. Running his fingers through his red hair, he stared at the covers and remembered the dream. No, it wasn't a dream, it really happened, a long time ago. That's why he never trusted anyone, the person that he trusted, would always die. He smiled to himself, thinking how much had changed since he came to the Ningenkai. A wonderful mother and all the friends he could hope for. Stretching, Kurama lifted the covers and got dressed to meet his friends at the Genkai's temple. --- Chapter Two: Gems of Tears --- When Kurama arrived at Genkai's Temple, a black flash passed him, running at rapid speed. Behind him, he heard a female voice crying out in anguish. "Yukina!" he gasped and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Everyone was already there, Keiko and Botan were trying to comfort her as much as they could but the poor girl kept on crying. Kuwabara was thrashing around but Koenma and Yusuke was holding him back. Hiei, of course, was glaring at everything, but his fists were clenched, and would often cast worried glances at Yukina. Genkai approached him. "Obaasan, what's going on?" Kurama asked. Genkai sighed, "A figure approached Yukina and stole her mother's tear gem. The gem's not worth much, the value is merely sentimental, but it was stolen just the same." Suddenly, Hiei stood up and went over to his sister, "I'll get it back, Yukina. I swear I get it back." He smiled a gentle smile at her and jumped into a tree. "Hiei! Wait! I'll go with you!" Kurama tried to stop him but it was too late, for he was already out of earshot, "Good luck my friend..." --- Chapter Three: Raven Tresses --- Hiei kept running, trying to catch up with the black flash. With a swear, he ripped his bandana off of his forehead and tracked what ever it was with his third eye. He saw that flash disappear in a cave in a nearby mountain and followed it. When he entered the cave, a meow was heard near his foot and he looked down to see that he had stepped on a beige rabbit/cat thing. "What is this thing?" he asked as he picked it up by one of its ears. Big mistake, he realized as it clawed his face and bit his nose, "@$%! Stupid thing!" Hiei threw it as far as he could but it landed on its feet and tried attacking him again. "Come on furball, I'm ready for ya." "Jen-Ohki!" a voice called as a girl entered and picked up the rabbit thing, "Stop that or I won't give you any carrots!" she put the thing back down and shooed it away, "I'm sorry," she turned back around and bowed to him, "Jen-Ohki's not good around strangers." "Umm, it's okay..." he started to say as he noticed something about the teenaged girl. Long black hair that was almost up to her waist, "YOU!" She looked confused, "Me what?" Hiei lunged at her, sword drawn, as she dodged him neatly, "Hey, what gives here? Why are you attacking me?" "Give back the tear gem!" he roared as he lunged at her again. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she yelled back and started running toward the back of the cave, "Go away! Leave me alone! Tasssuuuukkkeeeeteeeee!!!" "Come back here!" He ran after her as fast as he could but for some strange reason, he couldn't catch up, "Bastard! Come back here and fight like a man!" When he arrived at the back of the cave, there was nothing there but a strange weird swirly thing. With a moment's hesitation, he jumped in. The girl was still running but he threw his sword so a piece of her dress was caught on the ground, "What was that for?" she yelled at him. "I never did anything to you! Who are you anyway?" "Shut up!" Hiei hissed and gathered his sword, "And give me back the tear gem!" She looked confused, "Tear gem? What's a tear gem?" "Don't give me that shit!" he lunged at her again and she dodged neatly again, except this time, she kicked his sword into the air. "You are a strong opponent," she grinned at him mirthlessly, "It's about time that a fight like this happened." "Hn, this fight will be your last." He returned as he spat on the ground, "Don't underestimate me!" "Oh I won't. Just don't underestimate me, either!" she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. Now he could see her clearly, deep brown eyes surrounded by long dark lashes that matched her long black hair. She was wearing white baggy pants, one of those Chinese styled dresses (white) that Kurama liked so much, and a strange black armor that stopped at her waist, covering only her left shoulder. Her bangs were held out of her eyes by a red bandana and she was black boots adorned her feet. Her style of clothes kind of reminded him about Kurama, but that was about it. All of a sudden, she gave a huge battle cry as a gold aura surrounded her and her black hair flew up and turned golden as well, as her eyes turned a pupil-less green. Hiei gasped at took as step backward as he felt the power originating from the girl. "Sorry for the delay, let's fight!" she tossed him his sword and pulled out her own. Their swords clashed together as they strike each other again and again. When they clashed again, she suddenly seemed to weaken as he fell forward to stab her neck. Suddenly, she kicked upwards into his stomach, sending the startled and confused koorime into the air and she sent a shot of ki his way. He barely managed to dodge it in time and it grazed his shoulder. "Had enough short man?" "Short man?" He burned with furry at that comment and his hair suddenly flew out of his face and his third eye glowed. A small black fire appeared in his hand and his bandages burned up to show a tattoo in the shape of a black dragon. The dragon charged to her, shrieking. The girl gasped she dodged a blow but the dragon charged at her some more. I didn't want to use this attack, I sorry, she apologized silently as a silver aura appeared in her hand. She closed her eyes and yelled, "SILVER DRAGON WAVE!!!!!!" "Nani?!?" the next thing each other knew was that the dragons collided and sent a huge explosion of silver and black. The girl sat up and her hair turned to black again. She dusted herself off and walked over to where the fire demon lay. After cleaning his wounds and wrapping up his arm with pieces of her own clothing, she pulled him onto her back and walked through the W.S.T.™. Jen-Ohki greeted her with a lively meow but she only smiled back and started flying to Genkai's temple. Landing quietly in a tree, she watched as a red headed young man was frantically searching for his friend Hiei. "So that's your name," she whispered quietly to the unconscious man on her back. "Well, it suits you. A pleasure doing battle with you, Hiei-san." And with that, she dropped him on top of his friend. "Hiei! What happened to you?" Kurama yelled and held him to his chest, "Obaasan! Yusuke! Yukina! Here he is! He's hurt!" She watched as he ran up the steps to the temple. What's this strange feeling I have? She wondered and placed a hand on her heart. That man clearly cared about her opponent. "Can anyone feel that way about me?" Kurama thought he heard a young girl whisper something and he looked up. He didn't see anything. Yusuke ran toward them and he turned his attention to his injured friend. --- Chapter Four: An Unexpected Visitor --- "Come back here bunny boy! I'm not done with you yet! Eat my lunch will ya?!" Yusuke looked up from where he was sitting on Genkai's porch, surprised to see a short, orange-clad figure crash through the trees. "Okay, where'd ya go? Where'd ya go, you little fluff ball?!" The unknown person glared at Yusuke and Kuwabara through their orange/green bangs. The boy (the unknown person having been identified by Yusuke and Kuwabara as a boy) mumbled to himself, "Oh, great, people... Let's see, what does one do with people? Oh yah, you say hi...Think, think, think..." Yusuke just stared at the boy as he had a Pooh-Bear moment (tm). "Konichi wa! Me llamo Foz, y tu?" The orange-clad child smiled brightly at the confused teenagers. "No, wait- I DID IT AGAIN, I GOT JAPANESE MIXED UP WITH SPANISH!!! I am such an idiot, stupid, stupid stupid!!!!" He started hitting his noggin on a post. "He gives a whole new meaning to head banging," Yusuke muttered to Kuwabara. Kuwabara added, "If he keeps it up he'll loose brain cells, if he had any in the first place..." "WHAT?!?! ARE YOU INSULTING MY INTELLIGENCE?!" The boy pulled out a (very) large carrot and proceeded to whack the insulter on the head several times. "What are you guys doing to make such a racket?!" Kurama's voice floated through the open doors. "Head banging," Yusuke blinked and shrugged, turning to the orange/green haired stranger. "So, who are you?" "Hah! Yu dastedly villians sink that yu cahn get infermacion from meh?! Nevah!" shouted the boy with a very bad French accent. "If yu ah goen to quastion meh, I vill quastion yu! Vhat is yuh nahm? Vhat is yuh quest? Vhat is yuh favorite colour?" Kuwabara blinked, "He's as nutty as a fruit cake made with 100% pure Norwegian brandy." "I know you are but what am I?" the boy asked, childishly sticking out his tongue. "What are you two doing out here?" Kurama asked, coming through the doorway. The boy pulled in his tongue as his eyes fell on the red-head. "Bon jour! Parlez frances? No? Good, 'cause I don't either. Okay, I guess the fun's over (pout). My name is annoying and my friends sometimes call me Foz, you too may have this privilege. Have you by any chance seen a cabbit today or possibly a W.S.T.™? Don't tell me you don't know what a cabbit (or a W.S.T.™ for that matter) is! WHAT KIND OF BACKWATER DIMENSION IS THIS?!?!?!" Foz glared at the teenagers. "Cabbits are half cat/half rabbit and are addicted to carrots. They are sometimes able to turn into spaceships," volunteered Kuwabara. Yusuke stared at his friend, "Where'd ya learn that?" "Saturday morning cartoons. It was on some anime show," the carrot-headed baka, oops, I mean Kuwabara, shrugged. (note from the author: those 'toons *are* educational. see, I'm brushing up on my language arts because of them!) "Ah, but you don't know what a W.S.T.™ is!" Foz looked smug. "Wonderful Slimy Things?" "Wild Sick Tarantulas?" "Women Standing Tall?" "Nope, nope, and nope! W.S.T.™ is short for Weird Swirly Thing. W.S.T.™'s are inter-dimensional portals owned by Fred, the Great Goddess of Weird." "Did you say *goddess*? I thought Fred was a guy's name." Yusuke looked very confused. "Weird, isn't it?" Foz asked proudly. "So, who are you?" Kurama questioned. "I told you, I'm Foz." "But what are you doing *here*?" Yusuke interjected. "Being annoying while looking for a wild W.S.T.™ and a stupid cabbit that ate my lunch." "But why are you looking for a wild W.S.T.™?" "Because Fred told me to. I need to find wild W.S.T.™'s and close them up. If I don't, Bordom Hoggie will use them to try to destroy Weird World, which would be (sniff) horrible!!!!" Foz looked at the taller males with oh-so-big-and-kawaii-eyes (tm). --- Chapter Five: Up Close and Personal <It's a serious chapter, I swear!> --- "Jean, 'Nichan's home!" a young man with long black hair entered the cave and looked around for his younger cousin, "Jean, doko nano?" After poking around for awhile, he found her playing with Jen-Ohki, "What's this? No friendly greeting for the starving cousin that wants some dinner?" Jean stood up and brushed off her clothes. Giving him a look, she said seriously, "Hand it over." "What?" he looked confused. "Hand over the tear gem, Hikaru," she said evenly and held out her hand. "Don't give me that! A guy was over here, saying that a guy with long black ran here. He also said that the person stole something from him! Give it to me!" Wordlessly, Hikaru handed the tear gem over to her and she slipped it into a pocket. "Where did you get this?" Jean demanded as tears spilled down her cheeks. "You stole this didn't you? I told you, no matter how poor we are, we won't result to stealing other people's property!" Jen-Ohki meowed and tugged at the bottom of her mistress's dress. "What did you expect me to do?" Hikaru yelled back at her, "We're starving! We've got no food, clothes, nothing!" He turned his back to her. "I was thinking about you! You deserve better than what we have! Suitors, pretty clothes, and an education! You knew I was a thief in Makai and yet you came to me when Auntie died! I mean, what was I suppose to do with you?!?!?" "Well, if that's how you feel, then I'll just leave!" she shot back and ran out the entrance. Jen-Ohki scampered after her. Hikaru's eyes widened, "MATTE! Jean, where're you going?" "To return the gem!" --- Chapter 6: Why Did I Do That? --- She didn't know why she was hanging around with these guys. They were *guys* for god's sake, she *hated* guys (why did they always act like such idiots?). But something told her that she would need their help on this mission. As usual, they had mistaken her for a boy. One would think that she would be used to that by now, but she still wasn't sure how boys acted. What did they do when they weren't acting idiotic around girls? She was pretty sure that the answer to that question would never be found.
Around her lay her new allies, snoring loudly from their sleeping rolls. She sighed and turned over, unable to get comfortable. As she rolled onto her stomach, a sharp pain shot through her chest, like- like- --- Chapter Seven: Someone Suffers From an Identity Crises --- Yusuke blinked his eyes open, surprised to see the outline of a feminine figure in front of the moonlit window. As he rose slowly to his feet, unsure of what he was going to do, his hand brushed against a stool, tipping it over to clatter on the floor. Everything happened at once. People stood up, tripped up, fell down, crashed into things, all of them trying to figure out what the heck was goin' on. When someone finally found the light switch, this is the scene that Yusuke beheld: Kuwabara was lying on his back, foot marks all over his body. Kurama was standing in the doorway, one hand on the switch. And Hiei stood over the figure (who had somehow been knocked to the floor in all the confusion), sword pressed against their neck. Yusuke stood up, approaching the stranger. When he finally got a good look at them he found that it was a girl with medium-length golden brown hair and blue eyes. She looked to be about thirteen or so. "Who are you?" "Ah! Yu dastedly vhillahns thank that yu cahn get meh to shpeak? Nevah!" the girl glared at her captors as she spoke with a bad French accent. Kurama blinked and walked over, "The same corny French accent... Could it be... Foz?" He peered at the girl's face, trying to find a resemblance between her and their new acquaintance. The girl's face sank, "Argh, been caught in the act, how can I explain this? I know!" Her feet flew forward, pushing Hiei (and his dangerously sharp weapon) away. She hoped to her feet, making a small bow. "Atashi wa kawaikunee Weird guide Mandy desu." "Uncute? What do ya mean uncute?" Kuwabara sat up, scratching his head, "I thought you were cute-" The large orange-headed ningen was last seen flying in to next week. Mandy glared at the other three males. "I. Am. NOT. Cute. Understand? If anyone calls me cute, you get the same treatment as that idiot, okay?" She sighed, "One of the problems about being a guide is that you have to introduce yourself as being cute. As I am not cute (and no one may protest about this remark), I introduce myself as being Mandy, the uncute Weird guide. No comments." "Shh..." Hiei motioned for the girl to shut her big mouth. All of them clamped their mouths shut and sensed the presence of another life form, it was very different from others they had felt, yet it had a bit of youkai in its blood. "Get ready to attack," Yusuke said quietly. --- Chapter Eight: In Which We Get to Have More Violence --- "Okay, big problem here," Jean muttered to herself, "I don't want to start a huge fight or anything so I better blend in." Big problem since she couldn't find any place to change. Jen-Ohki meowed and she smiled up at her mistress, "Good girl Jen-Ohki, you know what to do, just do it quietly." Jen-Ohki meowed a response and turned into a spaceship. Jean stepped into it and began to root through her closet. After a moment's consideration, she pulled out a white shirt and short black jumper. Then, she pulled her bandana from her forehead and tucked it into her pocket. "Not bad for an Earth look, huh?" Jean grinned as Jen-Ohki turned back into a cabbit and meowed her response. Slowly, she started walking up the steps of the temple as Jen-Ohki sniffed the air and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Jean groaned and ran after her as she reached the top. "Jen-Ohki?" she whispered, "Get yer furry little butt back here! Jen-Ohki!" All of a sudden, she sensed danger and instinctively jumped away as a short man with a sword hit the place where she just was. Hiei cursed and stood up. It was the same girl as before, even though her clothes were different. She moved quickly into a fighting stance as the others arrived out of the temple and surrounded her. Jean glanced around her surroundings, the red-headed man was on her left with some kind a whip. With him was a vertically challenged blonde with an orange ball thing in her hand and to her right was a black haired boy pointing his finger at her. A burly orange haired man had some kind of sword in his hand as he moved toward her neck. "Okay, tell the Great Kuwabara Kazuma the MAN who you are!" he demanded as she backed away from the sword. She felt some sharp metal press against her back and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the short black haired man. Well, there goes my plan to talk peacefully, she thought to herself, okay, I need a distraction here. She racked her mind before remembering what she saw on an anime, "Look! It's Nakago doing a strip!" Just as planned, they all looked to where she was pointing and after pushing the sword out of the way, she jumped high into the air. "Kusou..." the medium height black haired boy cursed as they all started to attack her. Quickly, Jean threw the tear gem at him as Jen-Ohki appeared and she was immediately grabbed by the scruff of her furry neck. "AFTER THAT CARROT STEALING THING!!!!!!" the blonde shouted and chased after them, the Urameshi Team close behind. --- Chapter Nine: In Which Mandy Voices Her Dislike of Being Carrot/Sugar Deprived --- Mandy bounced through the trees, easily keeping up with Hiei (amazing, no?). She was determined to get the cabbit back for stealing her carrot, and, most unfortunately for Jen-Ohki, Mandy was on a dangerous sugar low. "Why are you so determined to get that thieving bitch," Hiei asked as she bounced along parallel to him. "Her stupid cabbit stole my carrot!" Mandy growled. "So?" "Do you have any idea what it's like to lose one's vegetable right before lunch? DO YOU?!" the exasperated carrot demon shouted in his face. Mandy's outburst surprised Hiei so much, that he forgot to look where he was going. This is a big no-no in tree bouncing. CRASH!
"Oh man, that's gotta hurt," Mandy looked down at the injured fire demon, who was holding his head and moaning. She sighed, picked him up, and swung him over her shoulder, then continued with her tree-bouncing. When Yusuke and the rest finally caught up with Mandy, she was standing in front of the cave where Hiei had fought the girl the day before. --- Chapter Ten: In Which Hiei's Feelings for Mandy Begin --- During the whole time Mandy was carrying him toward the cave, Hiei was viewing her using his third eye. In appearances, it was hard to believe that this girl actually was Foz, but the way she acted and the stupid French accent, it was easier to believe. He moaned a little bit before waking, as her blond/brown hair tickled his nose. "You okay now?" she asked as she set him against the trunk of a tree, "We can take a break if you want and wait for the rest of the team to show up." Hiei rubbed his forehead for a sec as he watched her finger a strange charm in her hand. It seemed vaguely familiar... "Is that Yukina's tear gem?" "You tell me," Mandy sat down on the branch and handed it to him, "That girl threw it at you." He examined it, sure enough, it was Yukina's. Mandy lay down on the branch and sighed deeply. Her skin seemed pure marble in the moonlight as her eyes glowed a sweet blue. Hiei quickly colored and looked away. "So what's your problem with her anyway?" she asked. "She stole the gem..." "But she gave it back to you right?" Silence "So why are we chasing after her if you got back what you were looking for?" Mandy sat up and looked at him, "Gonna pound her for stealing it in the first place?" Strong, agitated silence. "Whatever," she shrugged and dusted off the bottom of her pants before the two of them heard an anguished cry, "What on earth..." "Let's go," Hiei stood up and started the tree bouncing with Mandy close behind. --- Chapter Eleven: An Isolated Poltergeist Phenomenon- Call the X-Files! --- Hikaru paced around the cave bristling and mumbling to himself. "Why, that baka! Bakabakabakabaka!!!! Stupid Jean! Damndamndamn." He stopped for a moment and remembered that she told him that she didn't like cussing. Sucking in air through his teeth, he sat down and leaned against a wall of the cave. Hikaru sighed and ran his fingers through his thick black hair; Jean, you're making me into quite a softie... he smiled briefly at that thought. Maybe I should quit my current occupation and try something else... hmm, I've always wanted to be a computer programmer, or maybe I can be some kind of jack-of-all-trades... --- "What were you doing over there Jen-Ohki?" Jean scolded the cabbit as she flew towards the cave, "Trying to steal carrots? I told you, we don't steal!"Jen-Ohki meowed sheepishly as her mistress flew faster and sighed, "It's okay, I forgave Nichan too, right? Well, I better tell him that I forgive him." As Jean entered the cave she called out her cousin's name, disturbed when he didn't answer her. She fell silent when she entered the main room of the cavern she was presently inhabiting, everything thing was a mess. Jagged shards from broken plates and a lamp covered the floor, the upholstery on the chairs was shredded, and the two doors on the opposite side of the room were broken, the splintery holes apparently the result of something hitting the wood at a speed that had to be faster than light. An involuntary shudder ran down Jean's back as she tried to imagine what type of force was strong enough to do *that*. Nervously pushing back her black hair, her eyes fell on the corner of the room where she and Hikaru had first come through into this world, or rather, for her, this planet. Though both of them appeared to be human, Jean was actually half saiyen from the planet of Vegeta, and Hikaru was a cat youkai from the Makai. When Jean's mother had died, she had gone in search of her second cousin. Hikaru had decided that Jean didn't belong in the Makai, and when they had stumbled through the wild portal that led to this cave, they settled down there. Neither one of them could figure out how the gate had been overlooked by the Reikai. Maybe this neglegance had something to do with the strange ki it emitted. "Hikaruuuu," she called out again, trying to figure out where her cousin was, "I'm really sorry, but if I hadn't returned that jewel, we could have gotten in real big trouble." No one answered. "Hikaru? Ne, Hikaru, where are youuuu?" A groan came what appeared to be a lamp- well, not really, but it did have a lamp shade on top of it. Slowly tiptoeing around the wreckage, Jean made her way to where the noise had come from. Lifting the lamp shade, she gasped as she saw a black cat lying on its side, on of its ears was sliced right through, the tip of it hanging by a thread of flesh. Sobbing, she cleared away the degree and lifted up her cousin, for that was who the feline was. With relief, she saw that the small furry chest still moved up and down, though raggedly. Once again moving through the wreckage, Jean picked up a blanket, and wrapped it around Hikaru. She reached the mouth of the cavern, and gently settled him on the floor. Calling Jen-Ohki over, she told the cabbit to watch him, and to tell her if he got any worse. Then she went back, trying to locate the first aid kit that she knew had to be there. Hugging the blue metal case to her chest, she went back to the two animals, knelt down, and proceeded to mend the ear, even though she knew it needed stitches, which she wouldn't be able to do, having no needle or thread. It was then that a young girl landed beside her, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Ignoring Jean completely, she turned around, and shouted at the boy who landed, "BEAT YOU!!! I beat you!! I may be a girl, but I still got her first!" The girl started dancing around wildly, the loose orange clothing that she wore swung in unusual directions and patterns. Looking around her, Jean recognized Hiei, her opponent from the previous day. He let out a low growl as he spotted her. --- Hiei sprang forward, ready to attack the girl. Something slammed into him, knocking him down. He blinked with surprise as he saw Mandy towering above him. "What do you think you're doing," she asked slowly, her voice cold and hard. "Sure, she might have stolen Yukina's tear gem, sure, her cabbit might have stolen my carrot, but notice one word here? Might. She *might* have. That doesn't mean that you have to kill her." "Thank you... I think," the girl said quietly, nervous and unsure. Mandy turned around, smiling and flashing the Vulcan peace sign. "Konichi wa! I'm Mandy, and you?" "Jean..." "Ahhh, Madame Levi, 'tis a pleasure to make you acquaintance. Dost thou reside near this place?" Mandy bowed, then crouched down, one hand firmly gripping Hiei's scarf. "Oh great, now it's an awful Elizabethan English accent," Yusuke groaned as he, Kuwabara, and Kurama arrived. He stopped short as he saw what was going on. Hitting his head with his hand, he exclaimed, "I shoulda know! She's in league with the other girl!" He got ready to attack, eying Mandy's grip on Hiei nervously. "What are you doing?" Mandy asked, her eyes once again wide and innocent. "The situation is my responsibility now, so you better not be planning to attack." "Huh, your responsibility?" Kuwabara questioned, afraid that he had missed some important detail. "Yep, I've found a wild W.S.T.™ You know, the things I'm looking for?" She gestured to the wreckage inside of the cave. --- Chapter Twelve: Weirdness, W.S.T.™'s, Age Differences, and Various other Subjects of Interest --- "How do you know?" Kurama said slowly. "This is the classic results of what happens when a wild W.S.T.™ is left alone. Sometimes someone has an tremendous amount of pent up weirdness. Not knowing this, sometimes they cause the W.S.T.™ to react strangely, creating a large explosion, or something like this. Wild W.S.T.™'s are responsible for a large majority of the ghost stories told today," Mandy finished, then turned to look at Jean. She scratched her head, "The only problem is that you don't have enough weirdness to have caused this... No, that's not right," brow furrowing in concentration, Mandy stared at Jean with a sort of determination that was almost scary, "you're quite weird, it's just that all your weirdness is pent up. Oh well, no matter. Do you know who might have done this?" Shifting nervously, Jean moved to the side so that the others could see what she was guarding. "It- it's my cousin, Hikaru. I got back, and I found him like this." "Your cousin's a cat?" Yusuke gasped, trying not to laugh. Jean whipped around, anger painted on her face, "No, this is just another one of his forms. But he's injured, and I can't heal him." Her eyelids dropped, and she turned away, as if to hide her tears. "Hikaru," Mandy breathed, "why, I haven't seen him in years." She leaned over and tapped the cat lightly on the head, "Ne, Hikaru-kun, gotten slow in our old age, huh?" Kuwabara blinked, "You know the cat?" Smiling, the Weird World guide nodded, "He's a thief in the Makai. Since he never takes big stuff, he's not very well known. I used to hang out with him, before I went to work for Fred. He's probably the one who took Yukina's gem." Stopping to think, she picked him up, easily avoiding the grasp of Jean, "I guess I'll have to take him to Fred. You should come too Jean, since you're involved in this whole thing." Pressing a hand against the air in front of her, a portal appeared, purple and slowly spiraling, "In you go through the W.S.T.™," put Hikaru in his cousin's arms, she pushed Jean through, then she jumped in herself. But, apparently she had forgotten that she still had a hold on Hiei, and he was pulled along. --- Mandy, Jean, Hikaru, and an unconscious Hiei (he had somehow been knocked out again) tumbled into the office of Fred, the Great Goddess of Weird. Saluting the Great Goddess Fred, Mandy let go of Hiei's scarf. "Hi, Fred! I've encountered some technical difficulties. See, I found a wild W.S.T.™ at-," she rambled off some figures, which Fred entered into a computer, which promptly displayed a message informing them that a rampant W.S.T. had been found and closed. Mandy then went on to tell Fred about what had happened, starting with how Jen-Ohki (who had mysteriously disappeared because the author had forgotten about her) had stolen her carrot. Nodding, Fred glanced at Hikaru, then waved her hand, and he was (miraculously because of Superior Great Goddess Fred Powers) healed. "So, I guess we'll have to arrest him because he was illegally using a W.S.T.™" She sighed, apparently arresting people was not something she enjoyed. The color drained out of Jean's face as she watched Mandy slap a pair of handcuffs on Hikaru, who was no longer a cat. "Wait! It's not his fault, he only did it to help me. Arrest me instead," she held out her wrists, head bowed so that she wouldn't have to see the look on Hikaru's face. "Sorry," Mandy said cheerfully, "No can do. See, you're the younger one and he's your guardian, so he's the one who gets arrested. Don't worry, we'll take good care of him. I have a friend who would probably like to meet him..." Tears streamed down Jean's cheeks, and she gave Fred a desperate, pleading look. Fred shrugged, a clueless look on her face. Mandy was whistling (actually, she was trying to, since she can't whistle) cheerfully, happy that she had finally gotten to arrest someone. Fred glanced at Hikaru, "I guess I could send him on missions with Mandy. She does need someone to look after her." Quickly protesting, Mandy voiced once again her disgust with boys, and the male gender in general. She then brightened up, "Maybe Jean will do it." Soon Jean found herself set up with the part time job of babysitting Mandy. Other things were soon cleared up, when they finally noticed Hiei, who was sitting up groggily. Mandy groaned, now she would have to go back so that she could return the annoying fire youkai. ---
Epilogue to Solitude --- Kurama looked around the wreckage in the cave, wondering how they were going to get Hiei back. Maybe if Jean came back, she would take her cabbit, who was starting to get on the youko's nerves. A familiar shape caught his eye, and he walked over, surprised to find the treasure that his mother had given him when she died, and that had been stolen from him soon after that. Moisture gathered in his eyes, and they threatened to overflow as he traced the familiar lines of the- M.E.: SHOE!! B. Jeans: It. Is. Not. A. Shoe! That was a joke, I wasn't serious about it being a shoe!! M.E.: Shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe... B. Jeans: It's not a shoe, it's not a shoe, it's not a shoe... Hikaru: Oh god, here we go again... So, is this... The End? ---
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©1999 Blue Jeans and M.E. We have finished. We are DONE!! |