Notes:
1: none of these positively delectable... I mean... um... delightful characters belong to me, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop playing with them. *hehe!* I'll put them back!... undamaged!... I promise!... *hehe!*... really!... eh... *gulp!*... honest!... er...
2: for all you Wu fans out there, I love Wufei, really!... I just felt like picking on him for a little bit! *Silverblade grins evilly at a certain other. 'Oh, Wu-chan!' she calls out in a dulcet tone, 'this one's for you!' Silverblade then transforms into kitsune form & runs off into the forest, yipping madly in evil glee.*
3: this is also for those of you who begged me to write this one next. sorry! I hope you like!
4: this could also be sub-titled as 'Pick on Everybody Time!'... *hehe!*
5: this fic is yaoi and contains scenes of lemon, big surprise...
6: thank you to skippy-chan for many ideas! she knows which ones...
7: and for you Quatre fans out there, 'm sorry, ok?! he really gets on my nerves sometimes and I know I put him in a really pathetic light in this so don't kill me... please?
8: I apologize for most of the sap, 'm a little depressed right now... *sigh*
9: thanx to Jada-chan and Shelle-chan for proofreading so that this makes sense!
10: yes, there really is a fic at the end of all these notes. trust me! *smirk*
11: burma shave!
Now, on with the show!
"Oi, Heero! Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you make a face, it'll stay that way? 'Cuz someone shoulda warned you!"
"Duo, shut up!"
"Aw, Heero! You're no fun sometimes, you know that? You get that stony face... " Duo paused here, then continued with, "Well, actually, you always have that stony face! And that just brings me back to my first question! Someone really shoulda warned you about that! Now, what was I saying?" Duo paused in his babbling again, trying to pick back up the thread of his train of thought.
Then his face lit up and Heero inwardly sighed, did the American never shut up!?! Duo then continued his relentless blithering and Heero realized just why the others had insisted that the boy sit up here with him. He decided that he would make Trowa pilot the ship later... with Duo still in the other front seat! Or maybe he could just get one of the others to sit up here instead, even listening to Wufei and his thing with 'justice' had to be better than listening to this infernal chatterbox! He'd tried tuning the American's voice out of his thoughts, but it was even more compelling than that girl's! He tiredly rubbed one hand across his eyes. Listening to the pointless chatter of Duo took a toll on one's senses, the area of space ahead of them seemed to be wavering oddly... His attention was jerked back as Duo's voice took on a puzzled tone.
"Heero, why does that space ahead of us look weird? It's like, wavering! It's making me really dizzy and I don't think it's supposed to be there... "
"Duo, SHUT UP!" Heero checked over their position and swore. Due to Duo's chatter, he'd taken them off course! This was an area long known for the disappearance of ships and he swore again as he realized that there were few ways of avoiding that damn strange spot of space, it was pulling them in... He came up with a plan, it would take some fancy maneuvering, but it would get them out of there. He just needed a few seconds of clear thinking...
"Wahhhh! Heero, what's going on!" Duo's voice once more cut into his train of thought and he turned from what he was doing, trying to get them out of here and almost having succeeded, to yell at Duo.
"Duo, for the last time, SHUT UP!!!" He then realized that he'd lost control of the ship and was about to strangle the brown braided boy... when a sensation of nastily extreme disorientation hit him...
When Heero came to, he looked out the front window... and had to do a double take. There was a forest outside... with plants he'd never heard of existing. They were situated in a small clearing and Heero started to pull his thoughts together to make a plan of escape from this place when an annoyingly familiar voice piped up in an awe filled tone.
"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... "
"DUO!"
"EEP!"
Yuusuke sighed. It was a wonderful day to skip school! He grinned over at Kuwabara and was about to suggest a place for lunch when Botan materialized in front of them.
"Yuusuke! Kuwabara! You're needed immediately! A large mechanical device has landed in the Makai! It contains a set of accidental trans-dimensional travelers, the Urameshi Team's job is to get them out of the Makai."
Yuusuke blinked. "Do we need the others?"
"Yes, most definitely! We don't know if these travelers are friendly or not! Hiei has been informed and is checking on Kurama."
"Who is in the middle of a stupid ningen class." Hiei's gruff voice made them all jump, startled. "I can't get the message to him verbally, but if you write a note... that I can get to him."
Yuusuke didn't even bother questioning the statement and pushed Kuwabara over to use as a writing desk.
"Heyyy! Urameshi! I, the Great Kuwabara Kazuma, was not meant to be a writing desk!"
Yuusuke ignored him and wrote a simple note explaining the situation, folded it, and handed it to Hiei, who disappeared. He returned a minute or two later.
"He's got it, he'll be there a bit late. He'll need to think of an excuse to get out of class." Hiei snorted, "Stupid ningen institution!"
Yuusuke grinned at the shor... um... diminuiti... er... not tall fire demon. "I'll agree with you there! Now let's get going!"
Kurama blinked. He thought he'd just felt Hiei's ki... in the classroom! But that couldn't be... then he looked down. There was a folded piece of paper sitting on his notes, none of the girls could have gotten it to him without his noticing, so... He unfolded it inconspicuously and recognized Yuusuke's sloppy handwriting at once. He read and reread the contents before slipping it into his pocket and raising his hand.
"Yes, Minamino-kun?" his teacher asked in a friendly tone.
"Gomen, Takano-san, but I am not feeling very well. Might I be excused?"
His teacher nodded and Kurama rushed from the room to catch up with the others in the Makai. He just hoped they would be alright until he got there...
The Urameshi Team had reached the site of the 'device' and Yusuke whistled.
"Wow! It's like something out of one of those sci-fi movies!"
"Don't most of those movies have hostile mutant alien things in them?"
"Yeah, so be ready for anything!"
They walked out into the clearing as the door opened and a ramp slid out, battle ready in case some mutant space slugs from Mars or whatever decided to attack. What actually came down that ramp was NOT what they'd expected!
A boy dressed all in black with a brown braid was running screaming from another boy, this one in a green tank top and black spandex shorts with almost spiky dark hair, who seemed intent on killing him.
"DUO! Omae o korosu!!" shouted the dark haired boy.
"AHHHHH! Heero, please don't kill me! Please!!!"
The Urameshi Team looked at one another and a large sweatdrop appeared on their heads.
The next boy to come down the ramp was brown haired and wore a dark green turtleneck and blue jeans, he was followed closely by another boy, blonde and wearing tan pants and vest with a pink suit shirt, who had a worried expression on his face. The object of his concern was obviously the two boys who had first exited the craft. The braided one was now running in circles around the other two, pursued diligently by the dark haired boy.
Yuusuke watched this for another few minutes before clearing his throat. The braided boy immediately stopped in his tracks, causing the dark haired boy to crash into him.
"Ohayo!" he said cheerfully, then realizing he'd stopped moving and that the other boy was glaring murderously at him, 'eeped' and continued his running.
The blonde smiled at Yuusuke and attempted to walk forwards, but was stopped by the two boys running around him. He turned with a small frown to the boy in the green turtleneck who then put a hand out to stop the braided boy's running, once again causing the dark haired one to crash into him. The blonde smiled sweetly at the brown haired boy and walked forwards, successfully this time, followed by the boy in the green turtleneck. The braided boy then continued his running, still pursued by the dark haired boy.
"Ohayo," the blonde said in dulcet tones as the two approached the Urameshi Team. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, this is Trowa Barton, the louder of the two over there is Duo Maxwell," Yuusuke fought a snicker as this description was duly accompanied by an 'AHHHHHHHH!!!' from the braided boy. Quatre made a face of long suffering and continued, "the other is Heero Yuy, and Chang Wufei is still on the ship."
Yuusuke blinked before remembering his manners. "I'm Urameshi Yuusuke, the big guy's Kuwabara Kazuma, and the other is Hiei. Our friend Kurama is on the way."
Quatre smiled at them. "It is a pleasure to meet you. We have no idea where we are, could you help us? Our navigation got a little... confused." His eyes wandered over to where the two were still running in circles.
"It's not my fault! EEP!"
The dark haired boy, Heero, finally pounced on Duo and looked about to cream him... when a familiar voice was heard in the clearing.
"Gomen, my friends, I had to excuse myself from class." Kurama had entered the scene, just in the nick of time... as usual.
The boys from the ship's jaws dropped and, frankly, Yuusuke couldn't blame them. One's first encounter with Kurama was often memorable and this time was no different. As Kurama entered the clearing, the sun reflected off of his hair, sending it blazing, and his eyes seemed to reflect the teaming life around them. He smiled and Duo, who had managed to escape Heero's grasp, fell to the ground with a 'thud.' Yuusuke grinned as he heard Hiei's mutter of 'melodramatic fox!'
Wufei had everything set to his satisfaction. His clothes were impeccably white, his hair was tightly tied back, and his sword was gleaming. He was ready for anything. He walked down the ramp and observed the scene before him with cool appraisal. Quatre was talking with a group of people at the edge of the clearing and Trowa was with him, of course. He took a moment to assess the strangers.
The one who seemed to be the leader had the aura of a delinquent about him and the big carrot haired guy radiated dumb jock. The only formidable opponent seemed to be the short one with the spiky hair. He carried a katana with him and Wufei absently wondered how good he was with it when his attention was claimed by the squawks and screams of Duo being chased by Heero.
The American was looking panicked as Heero tackled him and looked as if to kill the boy. Wufei couldn't blame him, it was Duo's fault that they were in this place anyway. His attention was then taken by the newest arrival to the clearing.
A choked exclamatory made its way out of his throat. 'She's beautiful!' was all that ran through his mind. And she was! With thick red hair that blazed like fire and green eyes that seemed to glow with life...
"By Nataku," he whispered hoarsely, "She's a goddess!"
There was an exclamation from the ramp of the ship as another boy, Chinese by his looks, exited the craft. Yuusuke blinked, he had to have misheard the boy! Then he started to laugh. Had Wufei just called Kurama a goddess?! His mirth doubled as the Chinese boy disembarked as if in a daze and walked towards Kurama.
"Oi, Kurama! C'mere!" he shouted to his friend. If anyone could help these guys it was Kurama. He was the only one of the team that had any reasonable social skills, and Yuusuke privately thought that Kurama, as Minamino Shuuichi anyway, more than made up for all of them. Kurama calmly walked over, seemingly oblivious to the reaction he'd inspired, and smiled pleasantly at his teammates.
"Kurama, this is Quatre and Trowa, the guy on the ground is Duo, the guy who was trying to kill him as you got here is Heero, and the guy walking towards us in a daze is Wufei. Everyone who's paying attention, this is Kurama."
Kurama gave Quatre a little bow and a smile, nodded in Heero and Duo's direction, and smiled at Wufei. The Chinese boy seemed to blush faintly and Yuusuke grinned, Kurama often had that effect on people. His jaw dropped, however, as Wufei took Kurama's hand and kissed the back. Kurama looked a bit surprised as well, but Wufei's next words explained everything.
"It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of so lovely a lady."
Yuusuke fought the urge to snicker... and failed miserably, falling on the ground and rolling with laughter. Kurama had once again been mistaken for a girl!
Quatre looked at Trowa for guidance. He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation, so he had just been polite. Frankly, this Yuusuke boy looked and Felt like a fighter, the kind that enjoyed to fight for the fun of it. The large guy, Kuwabara, seemed to be harmless, he Felt pretty dumb. But the short one, Hiei, made him nervous. He couldn't Feel anything from the boy and the little he got from his posture sent shivers down his spine. Hiei was a fighter too, the kind that fought for the glory of fighting. The kind that enjoyed seeing blood and carnage around him and enjoyed even more the knowledge that he had caused that carnage. The only one that Felt comfortable was the girl, Kurama. She Felt calm and kind, thoughtful... but there was something under that that hinted at a wild nature barely under control. She reminded him of a quiet Duo... She also seemed to be the one who kept this team together.
When she had showed up, the postures of all three of the boys had relaxed and the short one had even flashed a little bit of a smile. He reminded Quatre of Heero, actually... Kurama seemed the calming influence here, even though Yuusuke was obviously the leader. She had a very strong presence as well, one could not ignore her. Her entrance had been spectacular. Quatre realized with a start that if he and Trowa hadn't been involved and if he hadn't been in love with Trowa already, he could easily fall for this girl. He wondered if any of her teammates were in love with her, he'd be thoroughly surprised if they weren't.
He looked over when he heard a strangled sound from Wufei. He thought that Wufei was right, she did seem a goddess. He wondered why Yuusuke had started laughing though... When Wufei had kissed her hand, Kurama had blushed very prettily and Hiei had stiffened slightly, his eyes narrowing. 'Well, that answers my question about any of her teammates being in love with her... ' he thought, smiling sweetly at Trowa. He frowned a little to himself, hoping that this wouldn't cause much friction between the two groups. They needed these boys' and Kurama's help to get out of here. And while on the subject of teams...
He looked over to find Duo gaping at Kurama and Heero watching her with narrowed eyes. He looked at her again, he had the Feeling that she was more than she seemed... and that she was underestimated far too many times...
Hiei growled to himself. Something about this strange boy kissing Kurama's hand annoyed him. But what?! So the fox had gained another admirer, big deal. He often found it amusing how his best friend wound people around his little finger. (Almost as amusing as how often Kurama was mistaken for a girl!) This was in no way different!
But he wished the boy would let go of Kurama's hand...
Kurama blushed as the Chinese boy kissed his hand and inwardly sighed. Mistaken for a girl again. Well, at least the boy had manners. Kurama smiled at the boy, Wufei, and replied politely. Then he turned to the blond who seemed to have the most authority at the moment.
"How may we be of service?" he asked in a quiet tone.
"Well," the blond began nervously. "We seem to have gotten a bit lost."
"That's a bit of an understatement," Wufei remarked acidly, glaring at the boy with the brown braid.
"It not my fault!" Duo wailed miserably. The other boys did NOT look convinced. "Well, it isn't!" he muttered petulantly. Kurama fought to keep a grin off of his face.
"Well, for starters, where were you when you arrived here?"
The blond, Quatre, looked back at the guy who reminded Kurama strangely of Hiei, giving him a questioning look.
"Just off of L9, between 1.095 and 3.784." the boy answered in a monotone.
"Can't you be a bit more precise, Heero?" Quatre asked.
"I had a certain long-haired nuisance baka chattering my ear off."
Duo looked hurt and muttered the now familiar refrain of, "It's not my fault!"
His teammates all glared at him.
Yuusuke cleared his throat, "What do you mean 'L9'?"
Quatre looked at him and Kurama got a sinking feeling in his gut. He asked a question that he was half afraid to hear the answer to.
"What century is it where you came from?"
"AC 195, why?"
Kurama sighed, it was as he had feared. He tried to think of how to put this delicately. "Well, the good news is that we can get you back to Earth. The bad news is that it's only the late 20th century."
The team of boys looked at him with varying degrees of shock. Quatre's saucer-wide eyes to Heero's expressionless facade. Duo had fallen to the ground again, Wufei looked like a landed fish, and Trowa's eyes had widened.
All in all, Kurama thought that they had taken it very well.
Heero blinked. The late 20th century... they weren't on Earth? Wait a sec... in the 20th there were no other worlds colonized, they had only recently begun exploring the moon and Mars and the rest of the nine planets closest to them. How could they not be on Earth? It just wasn't logical! He looked closely at the girl, Kurama. She didn't seem to be lying and the rest of her teammates looked as shocked as his did, except for the short one. He didn't have much of an expression at all.
"Where are we then?" he asked the red-headed girl.
She looked a bit uncomfortable and looked to her teammates for a moment before replying. "That will require a bit of explanation. And it will take a while. Hiei, could you get something suitable for dinner? Kuwabara, could you get some water? Yuusuke, get a fire going? I'll set up some guardian plants." The others went to do her bidding at once.
Heero blinked, they were obviously used to this separation of chores for they were all done quickly and efficiently. Hiei returned with a large something and began to skin it when Kurama smiled in approval. Kuwabara returned and Kurama gave him several large flasks to be filled with water. By the time he returned with water, Yuusuke had gotten a fire going and the meat was already roasting. Kurama nodded and left the campsite.
There were some chilling sounds and Yuusuke blinked then shrugged, returning to drooling over the roasting meat. Heero was not normally very chivalrous, but this seeming disregard for their teammate's safety was getting to him. Luckily for Yuusuke, Kurama returned in a moment, not a hair out of place.
"Someone decided to test my guardians." Kurama said in way of explanation. Yuusuke and Kuwabara winced, while Hiei just nodded.
Heero was getting very confused. He didn't like being confused. He wanted an explanation of where they were and he wanted it NOW!
Kurama seemed to sense the Gundam boys' growing impatience and sighed as she sat down. She carved up the roasting meat and passed it around. Then she took a deep drink of water and looked at Yuusuke.
"You want to explain or shall I?"
"You're the better with words, Kurama. 'Sides, I'm hungry!"
Kurama just laughed and took another drink of water, seeming to gather her thoughts. Then she began to very carefully look at each of the boys and sighed.
"Might as well be honest... To start with, there are three worlds, the Reikai, the Makai, and the Ningenkai. The Ningenkai is the human world, Earth. The Reikai is the spirit world, sometimes considered the Heavens, and is where everything goes when it dies. Then there is the Makai, the demon world. That's where you are right now. You not only managed to cross dimensions, but you also managed to cross times as well. So now you're in the late 20th century Makai. As I said before, we can get you back to the Ningenkai, but I haven't the slightest idea how to get you back to your time."
There was a shocked silence around the campfire as the Gundam boys soaked in that little tidbit of information. Quatre was looking petrified, Trowa was looking as if he'd like to take the boy into his arms and protect him from all the nasty monsters, Duo was looking confused, and Wufei was looking infatuated. Heero snorted to himself. It seemed as if he was the only one with a clear head at the moment so he decided to ask a question.
"Just who are you?"
Kurama raised an eyebrow at Yuusuke and the boy just signaled for her to continue with the explanations. His attitude toward Kurama was really starting to get on Heero's nerves... Kurama just sighed and after a moment took another draught of water.
"Well, we're investigators for the Reikai. If something goes wrong to affect the balance between the three worlds, we're sent to fix it."
Duo looked intrigued and, despite himself, Heero couldn't help but notice how the fire brought out such lovely gold and red highlights to his hair and the way those indigo eyes seemed to glow... He shook himself out of it and firmly told his hormones to go take a hike, preferably to Siberia or someplace else really cold. The Perfect Soldier couldn't afford entanglements. Especially chattering long-haired nuisance baka ones. His hormones weren't listening so he asked the next logical question that popped into his mind.
"How?"
"How do we fix those imbalances?" Heero nodded. Kurama smiled and looked at her teammates with a slightly wry look. Yuusuke and Kuwabara grinned widely and Hiei flashed a bit of fang. "Usually with a great deal of bloodshed."
Heero blinked. They didn't have any guns... True, the runt did have a katana and the other two boys had the look of brawlers... but Kurama... She seemed to sense his confusion and also seemed to find it funny. She looked to her companions with a smile and a raised eyebrow that seemed to convey a message. The two grinned and Hiei nodded.
Kurama got up with a great deal of grace and a rose seemed to grow in her hand. Heero was gratified to see the other Gundam pilots look as confused as he felt. She grinned at them all, winked, and then shouted.
"Rose Whip!"
The rose in her hand suddenly changed into a thorny whip. Heero blinked. Then with a flick of her wrist, Kurama sent the whip towards one of the trees that ringed the clearing. The whip tore gouges out of the tree that were deep enough to kill a man.
There was an awed silence. Then...
"Rei Gun!"
Yuusuke pointed his finger at the tree, his hands held in a gun-like position, and a glowing ball of light hit the tree, shattering another chunk of the trunk. Then...
"Rei Ken!"
A sword of light appeared in Kuwabara's hands and he charged at the tree, slicing another gash into its trunk. Then...
"Jaoh Ensatsu Ken!"
The katana in Hiei's hands glowed with a black light as he leapt and cut through the remaining trunk of the tree. It fell.
"Really, Hiei. That was a bit of an overkill, don't you think?" Kurama's voice intruded into the silence, a note of teasing having entered the soft alto.
"Hn." Hiei flashed a bit of fang, Heero had decided that this was what passed for a grin for him, and sheathed his katana. "We'll have plenty of firewood now, won't we?"
Kurama just laughed. Heero fought to keep an expression of... anything... off his face. 'The Perfect Soldier does not fear or feel awe at anything.' He found the mantra vaguely comforting... Besides, the other pilots seemed to be showing enough confusing emotions for him anyway. Especially Duo, who seemed to be wavering between bouncing up and down wondering how they did that, running screaming into the hills, or hiding behind the nearest heavy solid object. Heero snorted. Yep, Duo was showing enough emotion for the both of them. He noticed with slight amusement that Trowa hadn't been able to resist the confused look on Quatre's face and had pulled him into his arms, ready to defend him against the world. Quatre did not seem unhappy with this particular turn of events... And Wufei was still looking infatuated.
Despite the fact that he was supposed to be the Perfect Soldier, Heero found himself impressed. He now had an idea what Kurama had meant when she'd said about 'someone testing her guardians,' and he found himself being rather glad that they weren't against this team. He also found himself being disgusted at that thought. He snorted again.
"So, what do we do now?" he asked.
Kurama looked thoughtful. "I suppose we'd better set up camp here tonight and get you back into the Ningenkai tomorrow."
Yuusuke nodded. "Sound's like a good idea to me. Hey, Kurama, what about your 'kaasan? Won't she be worried that you're not home tonight?"
Kurama smiled. "I told her that I was going to be back tomorrow. So she won't be expecting me before then."
Yuusuke blinked and scratched his head. "How'd you know you were gonna be here overnight?"
Kurama laughed. "I didn't. I just figured that I should be better safe than sorry."
Yuusuke just shook his head, then yawned and stretched. "Oyasumi nasai everyone," he said cheerfully and sacked out on the ground, snores already issuing from his mouth.
Heero blinked. Then Kuwabara followed suit, leaving Hiei looking disgusted and Kurama looking amused. Heero shook his head at their carelessness. What if they had been enemies? The thought must have been plain on his face because Kurama just smiled at him.
"He wouldn't have done that if we were enemies. You can go to sleep safely, my plants will take care of most anything that tries to cross into the clearing. And anything that they cannot take care of they will alert me to. Oyasumi nasai!"
And with that, she curled up against the tree trunk that they had felled and went to sleep. Heero was feeling a bit lost. She was that trusting? A lone girl in the midst of a group of teenage boys? Something was not quite right with that. He decided not to worry about it and chose a place to spend the night. It was against a rock and easily defensible. He could see his fellow Gundam pilots doing the same, Quatre and Trowa snuggling together, and followed the example of the two investigators. Except he didn't snore...
Duo sighed as he looked over at Heero. He wondered if someday he would go just a little too far with provoking the Japanese pilot... He hoped not. He didn't think that it would be a very pleasant way to die... He sighed again, watching the rise and fall of Heero's chest as he breathed and tried not to think about how much he wanted to follow Quatre and Trowa's example and curl up next to the other boy. Heero probably would kill him for that...
He sighed for the third time and curled up into a little ball, trying not to think about how lonely and cold it felt...
End Part 1
(:./silverblade/gwxyyh1)
