WE'RE GOING ON A PICNIC??????
chapter 2
by Cricket
~*^*~
What a strange person. I've never seen someone so girl crazy turn to a bumbling pile of mush as Kuwabara-san does around Yukina-san. I watch him for a minute ... one of the new friends I've made since I've been in the Ningenkai. Hm ... the Ningenkai's such a strange place. So bright and fragile ...
I reach over and poke kyodai again in the arm, just mostly to marvel at those green eyes of his. His human form is not so much different than mine as I first thought, possessing the same characteristics as mine does ... just in different, brilliant shades of red and green ...
He smiles and I smile back as he leans up and taps a finger on Meijin's knee. Meijin does nothing ... but one my shurikens rolls off his shoulder and climbs onto the back of Kurama's hand, glimmering slightly. I watch Kurama amusedly as he retracts his hand slowly, watching the shuriken perch on his hand like a canary, chirping and whizzing. Carefully he brings it up to his eye and glances it down, watching it twirl and glimmer at him. Kurama is such a strange one! Hah hah ... comical at times, though he doesn't realize it!
The shuriken bounces off his finger to return to it's perch on Meijin's shoulder ... I nudge kyodai, waiting for the green gaze to turn to me .. and wink.
He winks back and we agree silently to ...
"Ahem ..." Koenma clears his throat and raises a thin eyebrow at us. "You two behave," he says in that squeaky little voice of his, not fitting the ningen form he sits in. 'Party crasher!', as Kurama would say.
"Ah, just let 'em have fun!" Yusuke protests, fending of Keiko as she tries to swat him.
Kurama and I both smile and lean back, like two mirror images set against the Ningenkai. Personally, I'd rather be in Yomatsu ... I'm so uncomfortable here. But Meijin wanted to come on this...picnic ... he called it. And I think I know why. I hide a smile just thinking about it and Kurama notices, shoving me playfully in the shoulder. I tumble violently to the ground, rather ungracefully...and I reach up quickly and grab the collar of Kurama's shirt, tugging him down with me, flattening him to the ground.
Like a couple of school children, we start to wrestle around on the blanket ... I feel him lift me easily and toss me to the side, taking Meijin with me ... Kurama doesn't notice and pounces, both our eyes flashing gold ..
"Will you two BEHAVE for just two minutes!!!" Koenma bellows, the blue pacifier nearly tumbling out of his mouth ...
~^*^~
"....we don't need to draw ANY more attention than necessary!" I shout, raising a hand quickly to shove the pacifier back in my mouth. I watch glaring as Kurama and Yo-mawari remove themselves from the center of the picnic blanket, Kurama gently setting a flustered Hiei back into his previous statued position. Those two ... like a couple of children!
I close my eyes tightly and cross my arms over my chest, running through my own thoughts. I wish Botan could have made it today... she may be a bubble-head at times, but at least she's a conversationalist! Heh .. could it be I .. miss her?
I hear a hard smack to my left crashing my proverbial train of thought ... I open my eyes to see Yusuke gingerly rubbing his cheek ... Keiko glaring at him ...
Then Kuwabara squeals again ...
"SHUT UP!!" Hiei booms ...
... Kurama and Yo-mawari are back at it again, pulling handfuls of grass and throwing it at each other.
Grief. This was a bad idea!
"AH!! YUKINA-CHAN!!! AHAHAHAHAH!!!" Kuwabara shrieks, rubbing his head furiously as he takes Yukina's daisy chain. A stray carrot streaks the sky and imbeds itself fully in Kuwabara's orange hair, lost immediately from sight.
I look swiftly over ... the two brothers are still acting like juveniles ... but Hiei has the slightest twinge of a smile on his face... ... then a piece of potato flies across my vision.
"ALRIGHT! Who threw that!!" Yusuke screams, getting to his feet ... the brothers are in hysterics, still throwing grass at each other.
Kuwabara shrieks and laughs, pointing a finger at Yusuke.
"You asked for it Kuwabara!!"
"Yusuke ..." I threaten.
He ignores me ... not like he's ever listened to me ... and launches a few tuna fish sandwiches with perfect aim. one whizzes by Kuwabara's head, the other shatters into pieces on the side of Yo-mawari's head. The brother's stop fighting ... Kurama points a finger at his twin and falls over in hysterics ...
"What are YOU laughing at?" Yo-mawari laughs ... and a piece of cherry pie ends up smeared all over Kurama's perfect face. I bite the side of my mouth to keep from smiling.
"Okay .. you've had your fun ..." I start.
"Lighten up, Koenma!" Kuwabara laughs .. seconds before a plate of potato salad is shoved fully in my face.
~*^*~
I've ALWAYS wanted to do that! AHAHAHAH!! The potato chunks drip of Koenma's face like ... like ... POTATO CHUNKS!! I clutch my chest and fall backwards on to the blanket as the food fight escalates. Alright ... my perfect chance to get that little squirt, Hiei!!
I roll over ... Yukina's taken shelter from the food as I gab up another handful of potato salad ... but Hiei's gone. Most likely in the trees hiding ... I look up.
He's sitting comfortably in the tree above me, eyes closed, muttering to himself. As more and more food joins the fight, I reel back, smiling widely ... "HEY HIEI!"
*SPLAT!!*
"Bulls eye!" I congratulate myself, hopping in a victory dance about the blanket.
Above me, I see Hiei seeth, violently wiping chunks of potatoes from his face... and he's suddenly gone in a streak of black.
Something hits my chest and I'm knocked flat ... Hiei leans over me, his third eye glaring me down ... and a chunk of potato slides off his face and splatters on my chin "AHAHAHAHAH!!!" I point a finger at the potato mess I've made on him.
"You IDIOT!! I'll kill you with my bare ..."
*SPLAT!!*
A mess of cherry pie shatters all over the back of the little squirt's head and then on me! Behind him, Kurama laughs loudly ... diverting Hiei's attention enough for me to grab another handful of potato salad and shove it in his face!! YES!!
Score: Kuwabara 2, Hiei: Zippo!
Hiei sputters, reeling back onto his butt ... he nervously wipes the food from his face and hops back to the tree. Yeah, go lick your wounds! HA!!
Yusuke yells something and launches a tuna fish sandwich at me. It splatters on both me and a furious Koenma, Yusuke hopping all over the blanket in a crazy dance. "Top that, Kuwabara!"
"Urameshi!!! I'm gonna wipe the floor with your face!!!"
~*^*~
I reach forward, managing to stay out of the fray and haul Yusuke back, hearing him choke and wheeze under my pull. He turns, and instantly tackles me flat! The baka! He smiles playfully... more like seductively, wielding a handful of cherry pie high above my head ... "Yusuke .. I swear if you do ...."
*SPLAT!!*
"AHAHAH!!! Got ya Keiko!!" He laughs ... "AHAHA ... ooof!"
I retract my fist from his gut and sit up, shoving him off me. MY brand-new suit jacket .. RUINED!! Not to mention I'll be picking cherries from my hair for a week!
"OW!! What'd ya do that for!" he whines, sitting up and cradling his stomach. I know it didn't hurt him ... he's been blown through cars, smashed into the sides of buildings and STILL walked away with only a few scratches. He pouts and I can't help feeling just a bit sorry for him ..
The remaining bunch of the cherry pie is sent sailing, smashing into the side of his face, exploding in a mess of red.
"GOT YA URAMESHI!!!" Kuwabara chants, pulling down an eyelid and giving him the biggest raspberry I've ever seen. Under him, Koenma nabs a tiny umbrella and pops it open, hiding from the spray .... such a strange guy!
"Kuwabara! I'm gonna plaster you!"
"ENOUGH!!!!" Koenma yells ... though the fight resumes.
Yo-mawari and Kurama are utterly caked in tuna fish and macaroni salad, taking turns launching handfuls of the concoction at everyone ...
"I SAID E N O U G H !!!" Koenma bellows ...
... and everything falls silent.
~*^*~
Is it over?
I look up slowly from my position under a tree far from the food fight, feeding a squirrel the last of my bread crust. Everyone looks so strange ... covered in food from head to toe. Koenma-sama struggles to his feet in his ningen form and begins yelling at everyone ... Yusuke-kun and Kazuma-chan retaliate, Kurama-san and Yo-mawari-san fall flat laughing ... but where's Hiei-san?
I glance a bit nervously around and glimpse a pale face set amidst black in the tree top above the destroyed picnic. I smile remembering that one day, Hiei-san will bring my brother back to me. Then maybe Kazuma-chan will stop fighting with him.
The squirrel scampers off as I raise to my feet, pressing the lines of my kimono back into position and walking back to the group.
"... this was supposed to be a VACATION!!!" Koenma-sama screams, his body suddenly shrinking into his toddler form. He quickly screeches, running around in circles like a confused mouse before growing in a poof of pink smoke back to his human form. "AND LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!"
Kazuma-chan notices me ...
"Yukina-chan!!!" he runs from the blanket, rounding the tree before clumsily making his way over, standing tall before me. He's dripping with food ... and he smells like potatoes!
"Yukina-chan!!" he scratches the back of his head and laughs loudly, his mouth growing oddly large. He is so strange! I giggle and smile.
He's so strange ... but I like that. He's so kind.
Behind him, Hiei leaps to the ground with a snarl and steps forward, digging through the basket to grab a handful of napkins.
Kurama reached forward and picks a potato chunk from his hair.
Yo-mawari begins to brush food from his black clothing, accepting a napkin from Hiei ...
Koenma does the same, beginning to yell again at the two brothers..
And Kazuma begins to laugh again.
And I just smile.
(c) 1997 Jiminy Cricket Presses
Cricket
Genshi no Korogi