Author's Notes:
To the few of you who may have read my 'Of Roses and Sisters',
a YYH/HG fic: I am no longer continuing it. The little part I had
written has been revised and is now part of Souls' Haven: Part 2.
Souls' Haven will soon be archived at Crossover Corner at
http://www.geocities.com/animecrossovers/
I would very, very much appreciate C & C, or any comments
at all.
This fic started out as a parody. Please keep that in mind while
reading this part! If you want to know what it's a parody *of*,
and don't mind spoilers, you can scroll down to the bottom. There's
also a list of Japanese words I used down there.
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: soul pt 2.txt
Souls' Haven
By Joy Lyn
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. If I did, the men would be
wearing quite a bit less and the Sailor Senshi wouldn't be forced to
fight in high heels.
Part 2: Shuffling the Deck
"Tadaima!" Kurama called out, toeing his shoes off by the front door.
"Shuuichi!" cried his mother, sounding *extremely* upset as she hurried
to the door. Kurama's heart sank. He had hoped that nothing had
happened during the time he could not remember, but now it seemed as
though something *had.* Something that had upset his human mother.
When he had abandoned his own fatally wounded body and taken up
residence in an unborn human's body, he had not considered how it
would effect his new mother, or how she would effect him. It had been
simply another territory to conquer, another item to take, another life
to keep himself alive. The only difference - or so he had thought -
had been the *unpleasantness* of growing up as a human. He had
improved his new body as best he could, but there was nothing he
could do to grow *faster.* By the time he could go back to the
Makai, however, he had had a change of heart. Now he devoted
much of his time and energy into being Shiori's perfect son Shuuichi.
How else could he repay her - kind, gentle, sweet, loving Shiori! -
for stealing her own *human* daughter? And now, apparently, he
had done something which had upset her. <How am I supposed to
think up a good explanation when I don't have the slightest idea what
happened?>
"You're all right!" she half questioned, half stated in relief,
stopping in front of him.
"Hai, Kaasan," he replied, stepping closer and bringing her into a
light hug. <She is so fragile!> She clung tightly to him as he
laid his cheek on her hair, his own bright red hair contrasting
sharply with her black.
"I was so worried when they couldn't find you," she said as his
stepfather and stepbrother - ironically another Shuuichi -
hovered near the entryway. "Where were you?"
Kurama frantically racked his brain for a reasonable answer,
but the big whole in his memory left him with nothing. With a
mental sigh, he reluctantly decided on his last possible option:
the truth.
"Ano�I don't know," he responded sheepishly. "I was in class, and
then the next thing I remember is wandering around the streets."
Gently releasing his mother from his embrace, he added anxiously,
"What happened?"
"A monster appeared at your school and started attacking students,"
replied his stepfather. "And then the Sailor Senshi came and stopped
it, but Meiou High is completely destroyed."
"Several of the students had to go to the hospital," his mother added,
"The school called when they couldn't find you." She frowned
anxiously. "You don't remember what happened?"
"Iya," he said, and then, as a possible excuse came to mind, "I've
heard that some of the people who have run-ins with the monsters
the Sailor Senshi fight can't remember what had happened later."
<And don't I wish that was true�Maybe the Sailor Senshi have
something to do with why I cannot remember?>
His family seemed satisfied with his excuse, and his mother calmed
down.
"Too bad you didn't get to meet the Sailor Senshi!" exclaimed the
younger Shuuichi.
**********
Later, as they ate their Chinese take-out dinner - no one had felt like
making dinner - Kurama considered everything he knew about what had
happened. An unidentified monster - he would have to talk to his
classmates and see if he could find out more about it - had shown up at
the school and attacked the students. It may or may not have been
looking for him. He did not go by his Ningen name when dealing with
youkai or his Makai name at school, but it would hardly be difficult to
track down a tall, long-haired redhead with bright green eyes who
sometimes wore a pink uniform and lived in Tokyo, and his work as a
Reikai Tantei made sure he had even more enemies now than before
being reborn. Which said a lot, since the beautiful, cold, and
ruthless Youko Kurama had made many enemies, only partly
because of his thievery. The Sailor Senshi had appeared. The Sailor
Senshi who had been running around Tokyo lately may or may not
be related to the Sailor Senshi of the Silver Millenium, he had been
too young back then to say for sure. The monster had been
defeated, although it might have just escaped - something else he
would have to talk to his classmates about. The school had been
destroyed. He didn't remember any of it. His memory problem
was probably the result of either something the monster did or
something the Sailor Senshi did, and may or may not have been
done on purpose.
Out of all the things he did not know, the worst was not knowing what
he had done during the fight. For all he knew, he could have had a
strange reaction to something or the other, transformed into his Youko
form, started terrorizing the students, left when the Sailor Senshi
arrived, and eventually came back to himself in that park earlier. He
did not think it likely, but he needed to keep it in mind. At least it
would be easy to determine if he had been in Youko form; the many
girls who followed him incessantly would take notice of Youko
Kurama. His previous body had influenced the growth of this one,
so he looked similar. Not enough that people would be likely to
link the two of him together, after all, as a Youko he had fox ears,
a tail, and stood a foot taller. The dramatic differences in color
would also throw people off. As a Gingitsune, or Silver Youko,
he had the coloring of his race - silver hair, extremely pale
almost silvery skin, and pale eyes, in his case gold. It still
surprised him sometimes to look in a mirror and see the startlingly
vivid coloring of his human form, the bright red hair, and brilliant
emerald green eyes. There were also a few other physical
differences - instead of his waist length flowing hair he now had
slightly unruly hair that fell midway down his back, and instead of
the narrow golden eyes that reflected the coldness and the cunning
he needed to survive in the Makai he now had big
grass-green eyes that reflected a misleading gentleness of spirit.
One thing he did know for sure; he needed to stay away from his family
for awhile. The three general possibilities for what had happened at
school earlier could all lead to danger for them, and that was
completely unacceptable. Possibility number one-a random monster
had shown up at the school. Not very likely, but it could have
happened. If so, he may have caught the Sailor Senshi's attention,
and he had no idea what they would do to the family of a youkai,
even if said family was not aware he was a youkai. Possibility
number two-a youkai had shown up to attack him. If so, it may
have escaped from the Sailor Senshi, and if it had been
willing to attack a school full of students it would have no
compunction about hurting his human family. It also might have
had friends or allies working with it. Possibility number three-
*he* had been the monster, either from an accidental cause
or by an enemies design, in which case it could happen again
and he might hurt his family himself.
So. He needed to move out for awhile, in order to keep his family
safe. He also needed to find a new school in Tokyo to go to.
The obvious solution would be to go to Shinobu's school; the
all-boys school was even more prestigious than Meiou High, and
many of his classmates would no doubt be trying to be accepted
into it now that they no longer had a school of their own. He
knew Meiou High's top student, the polite and studious Minamino
Shuuichi, would have no trouble getting accepted. He had also
heard weird things tended to happen at the dorm Shinobu lived
in, so his own quirks would not stand out as much. The
downside - it was in Juuban, the Sailor Senshi's stomping grounds, and
Shinobu himself might be put in danger. On the other hand, Shinobu's
psychic abilities might come in handy and he was better able to protect
himself than his own parents and younger brother. Making a decision,
he spoke up.
"Kaasan, Tousan, do you have any objections to Ryokuto Academy for
my new school? I know it is a long commute, but I could stay in the
Greenwood dormitory with Shinobu."
**********
"So tell me what we're looking for again, Ami-chan?" asked Usagi.
"Anything out of the ordinary, Usagi-chan," sighed Ami. Yet again, the
Sailor Senshi were investigating the strange power readings Ami had
picked up on her computer. Only this time, the entire gaggle of
Sailors, feline advisors, and Mamoru had tagged along, because
of what had occurred the last time.
"But you don't have to look yet," she added, "I'm not picking up
anything out of the ordinary."
Three food breaks, seven arguments, four romantic interludes between
Usagi and Mamoru, and several hours later they had canvassed that
entire section of Tokyo with the same results. Plus sore feet.
"Well," said Ami, discouraged, "I can sefely say those readings are not
a constant. Either whatever produced them is no longer in the area,
or they don't let off that much energy all the time."
"Or both," suggested Luna.
"I think I have a blister on my heel," moaned Minako.
"You shouldn't wear new shoes when you're planning on walking a lot,"
Artemis chided her.
"I wonder what produced those two readings, anyway?" Rei asked.
**********
The two readings in question had been enjoying the day as spectators at
a Martial Arts Tournament in Nerima.
"Man," said one of them, a youth with slicked back black hair, "that
was way cool! I never heard of Martial Arts Log Rolling before,
but those people sure knew their stuff!"
"Yeah!" the other, a tall boy with orange hair, agreed. "Especially
that Saotome guy. Of course, we could both beat him easily in
a real fight. There's no way he could stand up to the might of
Kuwabara Kazuma, Reikai Tantei extrodinaire!" His companion
rolled his eyes at his friend's extravagance.
"He can't compare to the powerful youkai I've beaten," he remarked.
**********
Greenwood Dormitory
Outside the dorm, Nagisa waited for her prey. She impatiently paced in
front of her black Mercedes, her long wavy black hair swishing as her
high heels clicked against the cement. Two of her suited henchmen
stood next to the car.
Despite her striking looks - long, beautiful wavy black hair and bright
blue eyes - most of the residents of the Greenwood dormitory made a
point to be elsewhere, even the first year students. If all their
sempai were actually going out of their way to avoid such a lovely
woman, there must be something *really* wrong with her. The sun
was shining, the birds were singing, school was out for the weekend,
it was a beautiful fall day, and no one wanted to be anywhere near
Shinobu's crazy - and dangerous - sister. Even if she was pretty -
okay, gorgeous.
Four of them had overcome their extreme reluctance enough to keep an
eye on her. They huddled in conference behind a bush just beginning to
lose its leaves: Mitsuru, third year student, Shinobu's roommate and
the former dorm head; Hasukawa, second year student and current
dorm head; and Aoki and Sakaguchi, second year students. Their
attempt to hide was probably ruined by the bright red hair of one
of their member - Hasukawa - and the fact that the bush had started
to lose its leaves. All of them looked worried.
"Man," said Mitsuru, his lavender eyes anxious, "did Shinobu really
agree to go with her?" In one of Nagisa's previous attempts to get
the better of her brother, she had kidnapped him. Shinobu never
lost his composure when dealing with her, and no matter how hard
she tried, he always managed to not only ruin her plans but also to
humiliate her.
Aoki and Sakaguchi nodded. "We're afraid so, Mitsuru. We were there
when he saw her during lunch. He told her he had to see the Principal
after school, but after that he would go with her."
They all winced as Nagisa let loose with a particularly shrill cackle.
"He told me," Hasukawa said hopefully, "that he wanted to see me in
your room after he was done with the Principal, so he must have a plan
to get rid of her quickly."
Mitsuru looked relieved. "I wish he'd told me that. I'm going to do my
homework, before our room gets too crowded. See you later."
"OK. I'm staying here to keep an eye on Nagisa." "Me too" "Yeah, so
am I" The blond boy nodded in acknowledgement and walked off.
Five minutes later, Nagisa was still cackling and ranting about her
brother Shinobu.
Ten minutes later, Hasukawa got a nosebleed.
Turning around, the other two looked in the direction Hasukawa stared
spellbound at, only slightly prepared for the vision of exquisite
loveliness that graced their eyes. Surrounded in pastel sparkles,
she was dressed in a flowing yellow chinese style tunic, carrying a
black and green duffel bag. Her bright red hair, somewhat darker
than Hasukawa's, fell halfway down her back, except for two
sidelocks that fell in front of her ears. Her big, vividly green eyes
sparkled mischievously in the sun. The tall girl moved so gracefully,
it took the three of them a while to realize what direction she was
going in.
"Oh, no! She's headed for Nagisa!"
"Quick, do something!"
"WHAT!? I can't think of anything!"
Or maybe only two of them realized. Hasukawa was still drooling over
her, and didn't seem to be aware of anything else, including the danger
she was in. <She's perfect> he thought dreamily. The sound of her
voice, low for a woman, sent shivers up Hasukawa's spine. The meaning
of her words only penetrated slowly through the hazy sparkles.
She had called out to Nagisa. By name. Her *first* name.
As the three of them tried to figure out what this beautiful vision
wanted with Shinobu's psychotic sister, Nagisa turned around
to see who had called her. And froze, a look of shock on her
face.
"Sh-Shuuichi-san!"
The sparkles abruptly disappeared. Aoki and Sakaguchi facevaulted,
while Hasukawa looked disgusted. "That's a guy's name! I wonder if
he's related to Shun?! Girly looking guys run in his family."
The other two were still in shock when Shuuichi reached Nagisa. "What
a surprise! I haven't seen you in ages, Nagisa-san. Did you come to
visit Shinobu?"
Nagisa was still frozen in shock.
Shuuichi produced a red rose from�.somewhere, and started to hand it
to her.
She gave the rose a look of pure panic and fled.
"It was nice seeing you again, Nagisa-san," Shuuichi called after her
as the black car screeched away. Looking around, he saw the
other three boys looking at him from behind a bush and started
walking purposefully in their direction. Hasukawa stood up
nervously. The other two still seemed to be in shock. <You'd
think they'd be used to weird things happening around here by
now,> he thought in disgust. <He's even prettier and more girly
looking close up!> Shuuichi stopped in front of him.
"Hello, my name is Minamino Shuuichi. Do you live here?"
"H-hai."
"Ah." The longhaired teen smiled at him. "Perhaps you could show me
where Shinobu's room is? He told me to wait for him there while he
talked with the Principal."
Hasukawa blinked. "Hai! Shinobu's room is right next to mine. Follow
me!" Stepping past the still unmoving forms of Aoki and Sakaguchi, he
led the other redhead into Greenwood.
********
In room 211, Mitsuru tried to finish his math homework. Shun had come
over, and the feminine looking boy was fidgeting with his long light
pink hair and talking nervously, which made it hard to concentrate.
Mitsuru reminded himself that getting irritated would NOT get his
homework done, and had just resumed working on it when someone
knocked on the door to his room.
"Come in," he called.
Hasukawa came in, followed by another, much prettier, redhead around
his own height. From the way he moved and held himself, Mitsuru could
tell the stranger knew martial arts of some sort. <Why is he carrying
a rose?>
"This is Minamino Shuuichi," Hasukawa announced, "and this is
Shinobu's roommate Ikeda Mitsuru, and my roommate Kisaragi Shun."
Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "Relative of yours, Hasukawa?" <Not
many people have that color hair.> Idly he wondered if Hasukawa had
mistaken Shuuichi for a girl. At the beginning of last year, he and
Shinobu had made Shun help them convince Hasukawa that Shun, his
roommate, was really a girl who had to pretend to be a boy for
unspecified reasons. The proceeds from the betting pool on how long it
would take Hasukawa to figure it out had been quite profitable.
"Iya," answered the newcomer, "actually I'm a relative of Shinobu's. I
was going to school at Meiou High - did you hear about what happened
there?" Receiving three affirmative answers, he continued, "Now
I'll be going to your school and staying here at Greenwood."
"Maybe Nagisa won't bother us as much then!" exclaimed Hasukawa.
"But why is she scared of you? I didn't think she was sane enough to
be scared of anyone!"
"NANI?" Shun and Mitsuru cried out.
Shuuichi smiled faintly. "Several years ago, when my mother and I were
visiting our relatives, Nagisa fell into a rosebush. She kept
insisting I made the rosebush attack her. Ever since, she's been
terrified of me, especially when we're around roses." He looked
just a little TOO innocent.
<Poor Shinobu! > thought Shun <His family has such trouble getting
along! >
<Is EVERYONE Shinobu's related to strange?>
<Note to self - Ask roommate how dangerous his cousin is>
"Hello, everyone." Shinobu called from the open doorway. "I see you've
met Shuuichi." He asked his cousin, "Did Nagisa decline the chance for
a family get-together?"
"Hai," Shuuichi said, while Mitsuru looked at his roommate in sudden
realization.
"Wait a minute! There aren't any empty rooms right now; there are a
few rooms that can be fixed up, but they won't be ready to live in
for a week at the very least. If he," he indicated Shuuichi, "is
staying here, he will have to stay in someone else's room..."
Mitsuru trailed off while looking suspiciously at Shinobu.
"I already told my cousin that, Mitsuru. You don't have any objections
to him staying in our room for a week, do you?" Shinobu calmly
inquired.
"If it is a problem, I am sure I can find another room to stay in,"
Shuuichi offered.
"No, no! It's fine," insisted Mitsuru. "I was just surprised, is
all." Turning toward the shorter redhead he added, "You're the
Dorm Head now, Hasukawa, you need to see about fixing
those rooms up. I'm sure Minamino isn't the only student
from Meiou High who'll be transferring here."
"Do you want a tour of the dorm?" Shun exclaimed cheerfully, clapping
his hands together. "I'd be happy to give you one!" Shuuichi smiled
at the bouncy boy.
"That sounds like a good idea," he observed, looking inquiringly at
Shinobu.
"You go ahead with Shun," Shinobu said. Shuuichi nodded acceptance
and put his duffel bag down near the bunk beds.
"Oh, good!" Shun cried out, and then grabbed his roommate by the arm.
"Come on, Suka-chan! Ne, Shuuichi-san - you don't mind if I call you
that, do you? - what kind of shampoo do you use? Your hair looks
gorgeous! Our room is right next door, number 210. Do many people
mistake you for a girl? People mistake me for..." Shun's happy chatter
trailed off as the trio moved down the hall.
Mitsuru closed the door gently and then leaned up against it, facing
his lavender haired roommate. "Why don't you fill me in on your
relative? He *is* going to be staying in our room for a week, after
all. What's with him and Nagisa?"
Closing his lavender-gray eyes briefly, Shinobu collected his thoughts.
"Shuuichi's father, who died when he was very young, and my mother
were siblings. I haven't seen much of him lately, but when we were
younger he was my favorite relative. Most of the time, he is very calm
and unruffled. Occasionally he gets extremely mischievous; it is best
to play along with him then and not get angry. He is usually easy
going, but when he or someone he cares about is threatened he
strikes swiftly and decisively. That's what happened between him
and Nagisa; she made the mistake of threatening his mother. Three
days later, she was admitted to a children's mental hospital, insisting
he made a rosebush grow and attack her." Shinobu paused, as if
debating what to say. "Why don't we go see how they're doing?" he
suggested. Mitsuru mentally frowned. There was more to this than
what Shinobu had said; he had spent enough time with his friend
and roommate to recognize when Shinobu didn't want to talk
about something.
"Sure," he said, and opened the door. It wouldn't do to press him
about it; that never got him anywhere. He would have to wait.
********
Akane stormed out of the house, slammed the door, randomly chose a
direction, and stomped down the street. She had to get away from
that� that *jerk* Ranma! He had been being nice for a change, and
then he had to go and ruin it, just like he always did! Grrr!
"I hate boys, I hate boys, I hate boys,�" she chanted down the street,
a faint blue aura surrounding her. No one gave her a second glance.
Well, one person did, but that marked him as someone from out of
the area. Akane glared at him. He eeped and backed away. Didn't
look like he would be spending long in Nerima. Good. One less
idiot to deal with.
Thunderclouds began to form out of a previously cloudless sunny blue
sky. Akane continued stomping down the road, not paying attention to
the strange weather patterns. Well, strange for anywhere other than
Nerima. In Nerima, all bets were off as far as the weather went. A
torrential downpour started as Akane reached a canal, drenching her.
She stood near the edge of the canal, glaring at the water below her as
wind lashed the rain into her face.
"My pet..." a voice whispered, seeming to come from everywhere at
once and echoing oddly in her head. A voice that was terrifyingly,
hauntingly familiar, that she had somehow, thankfully, managed to
forget until just now. Whirling around her eyes darted frantically
trying to find the person, monster rather, attached to the voice.
She couldn't see him! Whimpering slightly, she held still not
knowing what direction to run in, and knowing it would do no
good to run. It never had.
A figure detached itself from the shadows. "Ah, my pet," he smiled and
Akane shuddered. "I have a job for you, my dear. Come along." At his
words, Akane found herself cut off from her own body - a painfully
familiar sensation.
"Yes, Gorun-sama," she heard herself say docilely as she moved toward
HIM, reduced to a passenger in her own body. Her body was his to
command. Mentally she screamed - howled! - and clawed desperately
at the shield that had closed her off, but all her efforts were in
vain. He led her away as she tried desperately to regain control of
her body, if only for a second.
The rain continued to lash the now-deserted street.
********
-End Part 2
Note: This fic started out as a parody of all the Ranma-chan as a
Sailor Scout fics (Which I *like*, it's just that there's so many of
them!), and all the fics that assume Kurama's human body was
originally female (which I don't dislike or like). It then crashed
into a couple of other vague fic ideas I had, and mutated into
something resembling a semi-serious story.
Please tell me what you think!
Gingitsune - silver fox
Hai - yes
Iya - no
Kaasan - Mom
Makai - Demon World
Ningen - human
Sempai - upperclassman
Tousan - Dad
Youkai - the demons seen in YYH, including Kurama
Youko - Fox demon