Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Beautiful Thing ❯ Chapter 5

A/N: yo. Sorry for the wait, but I blew up my computer. Killed it. It's dead. Gone. And I don't think it's coming back. I am way past my frigging deadline… im so mad! I'm at the public library and I feel kinda funny having everybody around me read this.

Ichiko Ran ~ lol guess we have a shitload in common, then. I'm thrilled that you like it! (did I just say thrilled?) anyway, anyway… lots of twists and turns coming up in future chapters. There's actually a reason why Roxy is the way she is… if I tell you any more then I'll probably end up spilling the entire story so I'm gonna go finish typing up the chappie! ^_^

Seara ~ I went to Ocean City in Maryland. It's my favorite place in the entire world! It's really beautiful there. Thank you so much for reviewing! I love it when you do! lol you're like, my number one reviewer. Do you review on like, every chapter? (love that, by the way) hehe! Enjoy!

Pilar ~ lol hey. Thanks for reviewing! Always love the input and advice! Hows your summer?

Chapter Five

Shutting the door after all of them left, I leaned heavily against the wall. I closed my eyes for a moment. "What a day," I muttered.

~

*thud*

"Oh man," I whined. I blinked rapidly and tried to see the time on the microwave. Noon. "Hunh. Would you look at that." I stumbled to my feet and rubbed my eyes. "Guess I'm not going to school again."

The phone rang as I was pouring the milk into my cocoa puffs. Not even caring slightly about who was calling my apartment, I hefted myself onto a stool at my counter and dug in.

Moments later, I heard the answering machine record a message that had me jumping four feet into the air, and had cocoa puffs splattered all over the kitchen wall.

"Roxanne Masuro, if I find out that you are skipping school again, I'll kill you. In fact, I'm driving over there right now and I'm going to choke you to death - "

I jumped for the phone so quickly I knocked over all three stools at the counter. With a nervous laugh, I squeaked out, "Ah, Maya. I was just thinking about you."

"Roxy, you turd. Your guidance counselor called me a couple minutes ago, and he needs you at school as soon as possible."

Mr. Goodman called Maya? I glanced down at the answering machine. Hunh. Seventeen messages. Who wants to take a guess as to who they're from?

I grunted. "I'm going to ignore the turd comment, thank you very much."

I could see the eye roll from a mile away. "He said it was important." Maya disconnected, and I shuffled over to a laundry basket of my clothes.

"He said it was important," I mimicked haughtily, and pulled on jeans and a black t-shirt. I left my apartment in a huff.

"`Roxy, don't beat anybody up anymore, it's not ladylike'," I grumbled all the way down to the bus stop.

When I got to the high school, I didn't even bother to go in through the main entrance. The people in the office would give me a hard time if I went in that way, so instead, I headed towards the back of the school. Strolling along the back of the building, I silently prayed for the window to my calculus class to be open. `Score!' I thought a couple moments later. I pulled myself up into the classroom and took an empty seat in the back. A few kids snickered, and the teacher had yet to turn away from the chalkboard.

Several minutes later the professor faced the class, pushing up his glasses that had slid down his nose. I saw his gaze sweep over all of the students, and he froze when he saw me.

"What the - how did you get in here?" His voice came out slightly panicky. I almost felt bad for the poor guy. I think I'm driving him insane. Every day I come into class late, almost always via the window when he's not looking.

I flashed him a dazzling smile. "I've been here since this period started, Teach." I was lying through my teeth, and everyone knew it.

I saw his eye twitch as his face turned from red to purple. He turned and walked briskly over to the telephone on the wall, knocking various things off of his desk in his haste. He hit a couple numbers on the phone, and as he waited he impatiently tugged at the collar of his shirt. I noticed he was tapping his foot, too. The class talked in hushed voices as the teacher mumbled something into the phone and hung up.

Running an unsteady hand through his hair, he pointed stiffly towards the door. "Out. You know where to go."

I held up my palms in a fake pleading gesture. "Aw, come on, Teach. I'm trying to learn here."

"OUT!" he screamed, the veins in his forehead popping out.

I chuckled in pure amusement as I high-tailed it out of there. He's not a very fun guy - I could hear him yelling at the class to stop laughing even as I was two halls away.

~

Cindi, the secretary from hell, was sitting behind her desk filing her manicured nails when I sauntered into the main office. She glanced at me only long enough to give me a smoldering look and wrinkle her nose. Cindi was fairly new here, but I could kinda guess that she didn't like me already.

"Dave," she called. Her shrill voice made me wince. "The spawn of Satan just arrived. Want me to send her in?" Oh yeah. The not liking me vibes were pretty intense.

I actually grinned. Then I slammed my palm down onto her uncluttered desk and asked, "Are you always such a nasty little prick?" Cindi's eyebrows shot into her hairline.

At that point, Dave Goodman rushed out of his small office and took me by the elbow. Steering me away from the secretary, he muttered, "Was that really necessary?" I don't know if he was talking to me or Cindi, but then again, I didn't really care.

In Mr. Goodman's office, I took a seat in the chair across from my counselor. "So why'd you drag me out of bed this morning?" I snatched a chocolate donut out of a box on his desk. "Am I being suspended again?"

The counselor looked uncomfortable. "No."

"Oh, cool."

"You're being expelled."

My mouth dropped open, and pieces of what used to be a donut dropped back onto Mr. Goodman's desk. "Expelled?" I repeated numbly. Oh, Jesus. I've been expelled out of every school that I've attended since I was ten. One would think that I would have gotten used to being a major disappointment by now.

"Roxy, look. I'm sorry to have to do this. Really, I am. But the truth is? You've just been causing far too much hubbub within the school." His eyes told me that he really did feel a little bad for me - no matter how much of an asshole he came off looking like.

I snorted and crossed my arms. "Yeah, like you've never caused any hubbub."

He grinned a little bit, then slightly inclined his head. "I've caused my fair share of trouble," he said.

"Hubbub causer." I reached forward and swiped another donut.

For the next fifteen minutes, Mr. Goodman filled me in on my new school. I'd be going to a place in downtown Jersey called Sarayashiki senior high. If I took the bus like I normally do, it would take me an hour and a half to get there - give or take a couple minutes.

"You'll be starting there tomorrow." The counselor leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head.

"Why so soon?"

"They've got a guide there for you, but tomorrow is the only day he'll be in school."

I arched an eyebrow.

"The kid only goes to school one day a week. Sounds like you and he will get along just fine." Mr. Goodman gave me a reassuring smile.

"What, so they gave me the shittiest guide they had?" Could the school board at least cut me some slack? I'm not a total retard. I think I could handle having a smart kid show me to a couple of classes.

Mr. Goodman reached behind him and pulled a manila folder out of a filing cabinet. Clearing his throat, he slid the folder across the desk to me.

"Ah, actually, he's not really a guide. He volunteered for the job. Shocked the hell outta the people in charge." He cut his eyes to mine. "His name's - "

"Urameshi," I growled. I had opened the folder and found myself staring at a large color photo of Yusuke Urameshi. He looked bored as hell in the picture, his deep brown eyes glaring at something in the distance.

"Oh, good. You two know each other?"

I tossed the folder back to Mr. Goodman. "I'm not going to this school."

The counselor's eyes narrowed. "Uh…Roxy, why not?"

I stood up, shoving my chair back as I did so. "The kid's a dick, Mr. Goodman. And he's butting into my life more than I'd like him to."

It's not that I hate this Yusuke guy or anything, I barely even know him. It's just the fact that the tattoo on my hip has me freaked out and a tad bit angry.

"Find a new school for me, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, I left the office. I ran a hand through my long hair, stuck my tongue out at Cindi, and hurried into the empty halls.

I pushed open the heavy doors at the front of the school and stepped out into the bright sunlight. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head towards the sun and almost smiled. I wouldn't be happy until I got off of school grounds. This place gives me the heebie jeebies.

"Why are you ditching school, Roxy?" Someone teased. "You just arrived."

I jumped, surprised, and spun around with both fists raised. When I saw who it was, though, I started to get a headache. God, these guys were a pain in the ass. "'Cause I've got nothing to lose."

"How so?" Oh, wow. This Shuuichi guy is a real character.

How so? My mind was already speeding through the answers to that ridiculous question. At the tender age of thirteen, my parents and older brother were all murdered in my own house. I have yet to find the killer, and it's driving me crazy. I had no other family, so I was sent to a variety of foster homes. And by variety, I mean that I am currently under the care of my fourteenth set of foster parents. My foster mother is the Wicked Bitch of the West. Her name is Ame. And you know that chick, Melissa? The one I beat the shit out of? Yeah, um, that's Ame's daughter. But even if I hadn't gotten into a fist fight with Melissa, there would still be bad blood between Ame and I. The second that I had walked into Ame and he husband Lee's house, Ame was a total butthead. So, in less than two hours after I got there, I moved out. Stuck my duffel bad back onto my motorcycle and sped out of there like a bat outta hell.

The motorcycle was my dad's. I love the thing. But I'm not even of legal driving age yet - if I get caught riding that bike then I'm screwed.

After mulling over a hundred different answers for Shuuichi's question, I settled on, "Never mind."

The four of them had been waiting for me. Urameshi was asleep, lying on the grass that was next to the steps. Shuuichi had been sitting on the stairs reading a book, and Kuwabara was yelling insults at a tree. However, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and peered a little closer; Hiei was perched on one of the tallest branches. His eyes were shut, but I knew he was awake.

"What do you people want with me?" I asked as I ventured over to Urameshi. He looked so innocent as he slept - I just couldn't resist making sure that he was real. Without thinking, I moved towards his still form.

I reached his side and knelt down to study Yusuke's face. A breeze coming through played with a lock of hair that had fallen onto his forehead. I've never seen anybody so… peaceful, you know?

Just as I was wondering how long the peaceful image would last, Urameshi slowly opened his eyes and focused in on my face. Along with the stubborn set of his jaw, the cocky tilt of his head returned almost automatically. He propped himself up on his elbows, bringing our faces closer together.

"Do you normally spy on men while they sleep?" He sounded irritated, but didn't look like it in the least. In fact, his eyes were shining with amusement. A girl's gotta love getting laughed at.

"No," I said, trying very hard to remember how to breathe.

"Oh, hey Roxy. When did you get here?" Apparently Kuwabara was done yelling at Hiei. Thank god for big, stupid heroes like him.

Blushing furiously, I jumped up and faced Kuwabara. "I, uh, got kicked out. Didn't feel like staying." Raising my eyes to his, my mouth dropped open and a giggle spilled out. Heh heh, remember when I decked him in the arcade? Kuwabara's left eye is now black, blue, purple, and almost swollen shut. It looked painful. When I reached up to touch his eye, he let out a womanly scream and ducked.

"Aw, Kuwabara," I giggled. "That looks terrible! I'm…" Oh, jeez. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was sorry. I can count on one hand how many times I've ever said "sorry" to anybody in my entire life.

"Why are you following me?" I demanded, switching subjects. "I thought I told you that I can take care of myself." I then noted how all four of them glanced at each other, as if sharing some big secret that I was never gonna hear.

"A guy named Koenma told us to watch your back," Urameshi finally said, standing up and brushing off his pants.

Koenma. That little shit. He's a toddler that's close to seven hundred years old, and he's annoying as hell. Not to mention that he's the ruler of the entire Spirit world. Ever since my parents died two years ago, he's been keeping close tabs on me. Too close. It got to the point where I had Maya open up a portal to Spirit world so I could have a little "chat" with him about it. Well, he wasn't there so I stuck a cherry bomb in his desk. The results weren't pretty. And I'm almost positive that he's still pissed about having his desk and paperwork blown to smithereens.

"Why? What did I do now?" I asked.

"You know who he is?" Shuuichi looked fairly surprised.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. He was impressed with the amount of spirit energy that I have and wanted to monitor my every move like I was something growing out of a Petri dish." I glanced up at the big clock above the doors of the school. "Look, I gotta go," I said to no one in general. "It's been…a pleasure." I wrinkled my nose. `I am such a liar.'

"All right then, let's go." As soon as Hiei jumped out of his tree, all four of them fell into step behind me.

I stopped, turned, and raised my eybrow. "What are you doing?" Only, it wasn't a question since it was coupled with my "You-better-not-be-following-me" stare.

Yusuke slung an arm around my shoulders and grinned. "We're taking you home, Red." We all resumed walking.

I was staring straight ahead, glowering. "Red?"

He gestured towards my reddish hair. "I think it suits you."

"Yeah, well I think I'm gonna shove my foot up you're a-"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Shuuichi broke in with a nervous laugh.

~

The bus ride back to my place was … unpleasant to say the least. Kuwabara fell asleep and started to drool all over Urameshi, who didn't even notice because he and I were fighting the entire way home. Shuuichi had opened his book back up, and Hiei refused to talk to anyone.

Eventually we arrived at my apartment complex. Urameshi had noticed by now that his entire sleeve was waterlogged, and that had led to a mondo big fist fight between Urameshi and Kuwabara.

I just shook my head and kept walking. Shuuichi and Hiei walked a good distance behind me, and I could feel their gazes on the back of my head. My gift of awareness told me that they were having a telepathic conversation. About what, I had no idea.

`Hunh. More secrets,' I thought offhandedly.

When we got to the doors of the building, I turned to face the guys behind me. "Bye," I hinted.

"We're not leaving," Hiei said coldly.

"You're not my babysitter," I countered.

"We're your bodyguards."

"You're fired!"

End Chapter.

A/N: again, sorry for the wait. I hope that you guys enjoy it so far ~ I'll be on time with the next chapter, I promise. <<looks around with shifty eyes>> Until next time,

Babi blu.