One More's A Crowd
by Riisha
Author's Notes: So sorry for the really late update. My school life is beginning to take over, not to mention a severe writer’s block that has plagued me for so long.
I fiddled with the end of the last chapter by the way …
Chapter 4
Close Encounters of the Weird Kind
“First mission?” Mina asked.
Botan nodded to them.
She had touched ground and her oar was no longer in sight.
“First mission?” Mina repeated.
“Yes! You have a mission.”
“So …” Mina stared, “What is it?”
“It’s all on the tape,” Botan pointed to the tape again. “You’ll receive your briefing from here as soon as we find a place to view it.”
“Same as us before … sometimes at least …” Yusuke scratched his head. “We can continue working with you tomorrow.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Botan cried. “Remember what Koenma-sama said! You guys are supposed to help her out. In fact …” she looked around. “Where’s Kuwabara?”
“School …” Kurama answered. “We can contact him.”
“Good! Now hurry!”
-----*-----
A rather worn out Kuwabara stumbled into the room.
“Oi! Kuwabara!!” Yusuke yelled. “What took you so long?!”
Kuwabara chose not to answer this, finding himself a seat on the floor. He will not reveal the events of that day at school.
“Hn,” Hiei muttered. “I smell trouble. For Yusuke.”
“I think you’re right,” Kurama sighed, peering a bit suspiciously at Kuwabara.
“Poor Keiko,” Botan sighed as she started the tape.
“My god,” Yusuke mumbled as they watched the opening sequences. “He hasn’t learned has he?”
Kuwabara burst into laughter.
Botan stifled a snort to shush at him.
“What is this?” Mina muttered. “A comedy?”
Everyone stopped to stare at her.
“What?! What did I say?!” she exclaimed.
“K’so,” Yusuke mumbled again. “I suddenly see myself as a girl. It’s scary …”
Before anyone else could comment, Koenma in Reikai form finally appeared on the television set.
(A/N: Forgive me if this doesn’t sound right, but I’ve never actually seen Koenma give a mission … at least not in English.)
“Reikai Tantei. A group of thieves from Makai has recently broken into Reikai.”
“Again?!” Yusuke exclaimed.
Botan blushed as she yelled at him, “Our security was down that day!”
Kuwabara looked suspiciously at Kurama and Hiei, “What do you two know about this?”
[WHAM!!]
Kuwabara was on the ground and Hiei’s foot was on his face.
Kurama held a hand to his hand, “Kuwabara … do you actually think that we’d go back to being thieves?”
“You guys were thieves?!” Mina cried with sudden interest. “Really?!”
Botan shushed them all again, “Guys! The video!”
Koenma continued, “This thief is a youkai who has run off with a very valuable item. It is not destructive, nor dangerous, yet it is imperative you get it back. You are to leave as soon as possible, and take out the youkai, as well as retrieve the lost item.”
It ended.
“As soon as possible?” Kurama asked. “What is the item that was lost anyway?”
“Beats me …” Botan admitted. “Koenma-sama won’t even tell me!”
“Well we’d better get on it!! Do we know where we’re to find this youkai?”
Botan nodded. “He escaped to Ningenkai after the theft. We have some general coordinates to his location. I can take you there now if you want.”
“Right!” Mina grinned, standing. “Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!!”
-----*-----
It wasn’t any different from the usual place that they worked in. In fact it was very familiar. They arrived in large forest with many tall trees and big plants.
“Split up. We can search for the youkai better that way. Send out a signal if you find it.”
With nods, five figures disappeared.
Botan watched in worry. “Mina-san. I hope you do fine.”
-----*-----
“Looks normal enough,” Yusuke yawned as he walked casually through the trees, with his hands behind his head. “I don’t think Onishi’ll have a hard time with this. It’s just one youkai after all.”
He stopped looking around him. “Peaceful … isn’t it?”
At that very moment, he jumped up and into a tree as the area he was standing on was blasted away.
“Close! But not close enough!!” Yusuke stuck out his tongue as a youkai came out of the bushes.
The youkai merely growled in anger. Yusuke was about to jump down to fight it when he saw what looked to be a grin spread on the youkai’s face. Another youkai emerged.
“Oh! So there’s two of you?! Sure … I’m really worried now.”
At that moment another two showed themselves. “You still cocky now?” One of them smirked.
Yusuke sighed. He smirked himself as he clenched his fists.
“Whatever you say …”
With that he jumped up, and attacked.
-----*-----
Kuwabara yawned, frowning as he looked around the path he had taken.
He walked on, a droopy look to his face. This was boring him. Where were all the youkais? He was up for a good fight and there was nothing to fight!
He took a few more steps …
… and yawned again.
He was really getting bored.
A sudden thought occurred to him and he stopped.
He waited a few seconds before he called out.
“Do you take me for an idiot?”
The youkai trailing him growled, “How did you know?!”
“Heh,” Kuwabara turned slowly, his fists clenched. “I didn’t …”
The youkai’s eyes widened as Kuwabara ran for him, his fist pulled back in preparation.
[POW!]
As this youkai went flying, another two dropped down from the trees above.
“Teeemeee!” One yelled.
“You’ll be sorry you did that!!” The other cried.
Kuwabara just grinned as he cracked his knuckles. “We’ll see who’s sorry …”
----*-----
“It’s quiet … a little … too quiet …”
Kurama searched his immediate area then took a few more steps, scanning everything carefully. His eyes suddenly darted to the side.
“I know you’re there! Show yourselves!!”
Two youkai stepped out from behind the bushes.
“You shouldn’t interfere!!” One of the two youkai yelled.
They both charged at Kurama, but he merely jumped away.
One after the other they attempted to hit him again and again, but Kurama evaded and blocked every single blow they aimed at him.
Kurama landed on the ground and ran, causing his opponents to follow him.
He stopped not too far away as two more youkai appeared in front of him. He stepped backward a bit, looking to the sides and seeing a youkai step out from each side.
“Giving up?”
Kurama sighed, as he reached behind his head. “I’d really hate to do this …”
The youkais grinned. As one they charged toward him.
Kurama smiled.
-----*-----
Hiei walked quietly past the trees. His eyes flicked around, watching everything slowly.
In a flash, he had jumped toward a tree, his katana slicing through its trunk. The youkai behind the tree fell, dark blood gushing out of its guts. When it reached the ground, another youkai revealed itself, stepping out from behind another tree.
“How dare you …” it hissed.
Hiei’s eyes widened as he saw the youkai emit a ki blast. It headed straight for the koorime, illuminating everything in its path.
When it hit, the area that Hiei was standing in exploded. The youkai smirked as the smoke dissipated, revealing no trace of Hiei anywhere.
The youkai was about to turn and walk away when he heard a voice behind him. “Hn. Is that the best you could do?”
The youkai had no time to react, for in the next instant, Hiei’s katana had gutted him from the back. Hiei grunted and pulled out his sword. He watched the youkai fall into a pool of its own blackish green blood.
Hiei was about to sheath his sword when he looked up and watched more youkai emerge from the shadows. There were many of them, but their number did not phase him.
“You little runt!!” One of them exclaimed. “You’ll pay for this!!”
Hiei narrowed his eyes, a hint of a smug smile on his lips. “I don’t think so.”
-----*-----
Mina walked tentatively into the clearing. Something told her that this was where she’d find her ma- … youkai …
It was getting dark, as the sun was setting and the trees still provided some shade over her. She stepped further out, hoping to be able to see better.
Sure enough, it was there, lurking on the other side of the clearing, hiding in the shadows.
“I have you now …” she grinned.
As soon as it saw her, it hissed in a low voice.
“How did you get past my guards?”
Mina stopped, blinking in confusion. “Guards?! WHAT guards?!”
“Heads up!! Coming through!!”
Mina and the head youkai jumped as Yusuke suddenly flew by with his foot in a youkai’s face. He landed in front of her as he spun around and threw a punch at the youkai that was charging for him from behind.
He turned to her and grinned. “Watch carefully Onishi …”
And with that, he turned once again to the area he had emerged from, placing one hand in the other with an index finger extended. Green ki began to form around that finger.
“Reiiii GAAAAAAAN!!!!”
A blast of ki erupted from Yusuke’s finger, hitting the youkai that had just emerged.
“Wh-whoa …” Mina whispered in awe.
Hearts suddenly formed in her eyes. “That was so coooooool Urameshiiiiiii-saaaaaaaaan!!!!”
Yusuke sweatdropped.
So did the head youkai. It quickly recovered as it growled. “They weren’t the only ones.”
“You think you are a match for the great Kuwabara Kazuma?!!”
Mina, Yusuke and the head youkai jumped as a youkai flew past them, crashing into the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. They turned to where the youkai came from and saw Kuwabara standing there, his fists clenched and a smirk on his face.
Two more figures began to loom behind him.
“Oi!! Kuwabara!” Yusuke yelled, seeming to run forward to help.
But Kuwabara had already spun around. “Rei KEEEEN!!!!”
Both youkai were down, and the sword of ki disappeared from Kuwabara’s hand.
He walked into the clearing with a goofy grin on his face.
And halted as a Reigan just barely missed his head. It went on to behind him to hit the last youkai that was standing in the trees.
Oblivious to the fact that Yusuke had just saved him a lot of injury, Kuwabara yelled, “What the hell did you do that for, Urameshi?!!”
Yusuke’s eyes were narrowed as he said, “There was one behind you, baka.”
“What?! Well … I knew that!! I could have handled it!!”
“You were saying?” Mina asked the head youkai smugly.
“I have more where that came from,” the head youkai snarled.
“Rose WHIIIIP!!”
Mina, Yusuke, Kuwabara and the head youkai jumped as Kurama suddenly came through, a couple of youkai running after him.
He spun around, lashing out his deadly whip at them.
In one swipe, both youkais fell, practically in pieces when they reached the ground.
He smiled as he walked toward them.
Mina had hearts in her eyes again. “Waaai!! Kurama-san!!! You’re also SOOO cooool!!!!”
Kurama facefaulted.
The head youkai snorted, “You have yet to defeat the best of my …”
“You mean these?”
Mina, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and the head youkai jumped when they heard the voice.
They all turned to see Hiei step into the clearing last, dragging several mutilated bodies behind him. He smirked as he wiped the tiny bit of blood off his face, and shook the blood off his katana. “They were no good challenge.”
“What?!” the head youkai demanded.
The youkai was no trapped. It had no way out, except to fight. It seemed worried at first but then it calmed itself. “No matter … I will take care of you all myself!!”
Then it stepped out of the shadows.
There it was. It was hideous. It had dark, bat-like wings coming out of its back. Its face no longer looked like a face, wrinkled and fleshy, with a small ‘nose’ and hard to see, piercing eyes. It had large arms and legs, rippled with muscles and dark flesh. The arms ended in large hands, short fingers and long claws. The legs were the same way though they were larger than its … ‘hands’.
“Wh-what are you?” Mina gasped.
“I’m not a girl…” The youkai chuckled. “Hehe … I’m not a guy either…” It suddenly gasped, its ‘hands’ clutching its ‘face’. “GOOD GRACIOUS, WHAT AM I?” ()
With facefaults and sweatdrops on all our characters, the youkai stepped forward a bit more.
Yusuke recovered, “Come on, Mina! This is your first chance at a real fight.”
“Aren’t you guys gonna help me?!”
“Haven’t we helped enough?” was Hiei’s simple answer.
Kurama tried to grin, “Don’t worry! We’ll be behind you!!”
“That’s comforting …”
Mina finally stepped forward toward the youkai.
“All right, ass!! Prepare to get kicked by Onishi Mina!!”
The youkai laughed loudly and announced, “Well, Mina! My name’s Fester.” It cackled. “It means to rot!!” ()
Facefaults and sweatdrops all over again.
“Oh what the HELL ever!!” Mina cried. She charged, running at full speed at …… Fester …… who shall from now on still be referred to as ‘the head youkai’.
The head youkai braced itself for the attack and attempted to block the oncoming blows. Mina leapt over it, to try to hit it from behind, but the youkai turned with her, blocking her again.
She jumped away, and drew both hands back, the discs of ki forming in her hands.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” the youkai taunted.
Mina laughed as the ki accumulated, “Hah!! But if you were me, then I’d be you! Then I’d use your body to beat the crap out of you!!” ()
Facefaults and sweatdrops for the third time.
“Take this!!”
In an instant the discs were slicing through the air toward the youkai.
It merely evaded by taking flight. It smirked, “If you can’t do any better than that … !!”
Before he could finish, his eyes widened as Mina appeared in front of him, having jumped up from the ground.
“Heeeeee YAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!”
Her foot came in contact with its face, throwing at back down at the ground. She landed beside it, and spun around to hit it again.
It was gone.
Her eyes widened, unaware that the youkai had reappeared behind her. She screamed as the youkai hit her from behind, followed by a kick to her lower back and an elbow to her head.
She hit the ground, rolling across the grass and rubble from the force of the hit.
“Mina-san!!”
“Onishi!!!”
“Mina!!”
Mina finally slowed to a stop, several feet away.
“Ungh …” She grunted as she struggled, trying to get, supporting her weight on her hands. “You asshole …” she hissed. “You ruined …”
She suddenly looked up, her eyes on fire. “My favorite SHIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRTTTT!!!!!!”
Mina screamed, as she leapt to her feet and charging with all force. Both her hands were glowing ominously with ki. She released two new discs and then proceeded to draw more ki before pummeling the youkai with a barrage of fists.
Facefaults and sweatdrops once more.
“Whoa …” Kuwabara muttered.
“You said it …” Yusuke agreed.
“Remarkable …” Kurama mused.
“Hn …” Hiei grunted.
“TAKE THAT YOU WINGED SPAWN OF SATAAAAAN!!!” ()
“Aaaaahhhhh!!!! Nooooooooo!!!”
“YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG WOMAN PAL!!!!”
“DON’T!!” a whimper. “My mother used to do that to me!!” ()
Yusuke winced. “Oh, he was looking out of his ear hole for a while there.” ()
“It’s almost like having your breakfast kidnap you,” Kuwabara nodded. ()
“Um … Kuwabara?” Kurama asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Kuwabara blinked a few times and finally responded. “I don’t know … But isn’t it?”
“K’so …” Hiei mumbled. “Kono temee …”
Yusuke winced again, “Ooooh! That had to hurt!!”
“She’s good.” Kurama agreed.
Soon it was all over.
They all watched in awe as the youkai fell to the ground in a heap of bruises and injuries.
Mina landed on the ground beside it. She spun around, a huge grin spread across her face.
“Oh yeah! LOSER!” She smirked, her thumb, and first two fingers extended. “Ha! 3D!” ()
(A/N: I hope you guys can imagine that right. The ‘3-D loser sign’ ^^;; I swear my sis is weird.)
“How’s that?” Mina asked as she turned back to the Reikai Tantei.
“Nice,” Kurama said, supportively.
Kuwabara grinned as he scratched his head and nodded.
Hiei made no move to answer.
Yusuke frowned. “You could be better. We still need to work on you.”
“Yusuke!” Kurama reprimanded.
“It’s all right,” Mina said. She grinned, “I just want to get good at it!”
“Guys!!”
They looked up to see Botan hovering over them. “Botan-san!!” Mina called.
She flew down and landed in front of them, making her oar disappear. “Are you guys done here?”
“Well …” Kurama looked to the side and pointed to the youkai. “That’s the head thief. We still need to find the treasure …”
“This it?”
Hiei had something in his hand. They all looked down into it.
It was a small key.
“A key?” Kurama wondered.
“Wh-what the hell is that?” Mina asked.
“You got me,” Yusuke answered.
“What’s so great about this?!” Kuwabara demanded.
Botan came forward, “That looks like ………” she facefaulted. “Um … guys?”
-----*-----
“YOU MADE US GO ALL THAT WAY FOR …FOR … THIS?!!”
Koenma fell backward from the force of Yusuke and Mina’s voices.
The others, the three other Tantei and Botan, were all standing in the back of the room, with sweatdrops.
Yusuke grabbed Koenma by the collar and shook him violently. “What have I become to you, you .. you… you!!!”
Mina screamed from behind him, “Is this what your Reikai Tantei is?! Some … some … mere …. Errand runners?!! I ruined my shirt for this?!!”
“Ahehe …” Kurama had a facefault on his face. “Like teacher, like student.”
“Well, they have a right to yell!” Kuwabara grumbled.
And miracle of miracles, Hiei nodded in agreement.
“Tell me, Koenma,” Yusuke demanded. “Why would a youkai steal this?!”
“D-d-d-on’t a-a-a-ask m-m-m-me!!” Koenma tried to say as he was being throttled. “Th-th-th-they j-j-ust t-t-to-ook i-i-i-i-i-it!!”
“But why?!!” Mina cried, her hands pulling at her own hair.
“Maybe they didn’t know what it was for?” Kurama tried to answer them. “It is a key …”
Hiei shook his head in disgust.
For the very valuable item that had been stolen and that Koenma had told them to retrieve …
Was the key to Koenma’s own diary …
-----*-----
Talk about craziness … I love this fic. I get to be so silly in it …
Anyone notice that Hiei’s scene up there was the longest? *heart! heart!* Hehe … sorry …
And forgive Mina as well. If you were a girl who liked fighting, wouldn’t you be going *heart! heart!* as well? =P