Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Heal Me, I'm Heartsick ❯ Paranoia Bomb ( Chapter 2 )

Okay, quick disclaimer on this one: I do not own DDR. Actually, I planned this to be the only mention of my admittedly favorite video game… But it turned into a plot point. V_v I am such an idiot…

 

For those unfamiliar with the game, it's a simple one. Basically, there's a floor pad with four arrows (front, back, right, and left). The screen displays arrows in a particular sequence to a song. It starts out really, really simple, but once you get past the “Light Mode”, it's nearly impossible for us fat people. Just a quick happy note here: I've lost sixty pounds since I started playing and dropped four jeans sizes, so this thing really works.

 

So, on with the tale!

 

(Another note: Please review? Please?)

 

Chapter 2: Paranoia Bomb

 

Takenaka left after lunch. I was alone in a home I currently was assimilating into and wasn't really a part of just yet. The Minaminos were nice, don't get me wrong. It's just that at the moment, I really didn't belong there. Shuichi vanished and reappeared several times. How did he do that?

 

“Would you like to come with me, Bri?” He asked as I stood up from the table. I carried my dishes to the sink, where Kaasan beat me off with a rubber glove for trying to help wash the dishes. “I'm going to meet some friends at the arcade.”

 

“Sure!” I grinned. “I want to try out those DDR machines.”

 

“You DDR?”

 

“Yeah! I was the champ back in Wichita.” I was, of course, lying. I'd never been much of a challenger to anyone else, though I'd been rather good with scores. Shuichi, though, did not need to know this particular piece of information.

 

“I'm not quite sure you'll keep that here,” he said, a small smile touching his lips. “My friend Yusuke currently holds that particular title.”

 

“Is that a challenge?” I asked slyly.

 

“If you accept it in that context, then yes.”

 

“Ooh, big words.”

 

Maybe I was wrong about that war among the brains thing…

 

“Let's go, then.”

 

>>>

 

The view from outside the arcade and inside of it turned out to be much different. There were only four DDR machines, each evenly spaced so that you couldn't hear much of what was going on the other ones. When we arrived, there were already two boys pounding it out on the far right hand machine. Shuichi headed straight for the boys and I followed. A few others lingered around besides the two boys on the machine.

 

“Hello, hello, Shuichi!” shouted a very familiar-looking girl. She had periwinkle-blue hair and a huge grin on her face. Where had I seen her before? It was on the edge of my mind…

 

“Hello to you, too, Botan,” Shuichi smiled softly. “Bri, this is one of my friends, Botan.”

 

“Hi! You must be the foreign exchange student staying with Shuichi,” she grinned. “Hey, have we met, you seem awfully familiar?”

 

“Same here, but I can't seem to recall,” I shrugged. “Oh, well, not that important. We've met now.”

 

“Right-o!”

 

The over-happy grin on her face was a little unnerving and seemed to be forced. Was she on crack?

 

A second girl, one with short brown hair that seemed to have been burned off and a severe look on her face, glared at one of the boys on the machine. It was almost like she could have scorched him right off the pad.

 

The DDR machine trilled sharply as the song ended. The boy on the right had a sort of slicked-back black hairstyle that he probably thought made him look macho. More like pathetic. The one on the left looked like an ugly, tall Elvis with orange hair and bulky muscles. They made his head look really small and horse-like.

 

“I beat you, fair and square, Kuwabara!” shouted the black-haired boy. “Pay up already!”

 

“You cheated, Urameshi! No way!”

 

“Kuwabara, Yusuke didn't touch you, how could he have cheated?” asked the brown-haired girl sharply.

 

The Elvis grumbled but handed the other several tokens anyway. That's when the duo noticed me.

 

“Hey, Kurama, is this that new kid?” asked the black-haired one.

 

“Kurama?” I blinked at my red-haired friend. “That a nickname, Shuichi?”

 

“Er, yes, yes, it is, but I'd rather not have it known publicly,” Shuichi gave the one who'd spoken a severe look. “This is Bri. Bri, this is Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Keiko. Keiko will be attending Meikou with us this year.”

 

My heart nearly started. “From Sarayaski Junior High, right? Takenaka told me about you, I didn't think you'd be going to Meikou, too. I thought something with more prestige would be in order.”

 

“Mr. Takenaka told you about me?” Keiko blushed. “I didn't want to go to any of the other schools. Meikou is closer to my house than any of the other schools.”

 

“Ah,” I nodded. “Hey, which one was Yusuke again, I was going to challenge `im to DDR.”

 

“That would be me,” said the black-haired one pompously, thumbing his chest. He kicked the Elvis out of the way. Kuwabara protested, but I merely stared at Yusuke. Poor Kuwabara. “Step up and dance, chick. You're no match for me.” I forgot about the Elvis man and clambered up.

 

“Less talk, more dance,” I said, shoving a few quarters into the machine. “Mind if I choose the song?”

 

“Be my guest.”

 

I clicked the arrows onto my favorite song: Hysteria. It'd taken me weeks to master it as a fledgling Light moder, but as I rose up through the ranks into masterdom, it'd become a snap for me. Most of the time, people didn't like it because it only got harder. I was hoping Yusuke was one of those people.

 

“Best three out of four,” Yusuke said. “If we even tie, I'll buy you a soda.”

 

“You're on,” I grinned. “If I win, though, you're taking everyone out for dinner, Kaasan included.” He stole a glare at my cocky grin, then handed it right back on a golden platter, complete with silverware.

 

“All right, you're on, chick.”

 

“Stop calling me chick.” I slammed the “OK” button down and hopped onto the pad in my ready mode. The machine threw its light in our faces, but that only made me all the more determined. I forgot about the other people and Yusuke. Now, it was just me, the machine, and my own little world. I jumped onto the pads, twirled, twisted, dove, and stepped as fast as the steps went. Each one stated “Perfect!!” or “Great!” It was my best Hysteria ever. When the song ended, I was panting slightly, but I'd beaten Yusuke by several thousand points.

 

“No way! I'm picking the next song.”

 

I only gestured to the screen. I nearly choked when I saw his choice.

 

“Cow Girl, Urameshi? That's lame.”

 

“Hey, I happen to like this song,” he said in defense.

 

Well, to tell the truth, I'd only played that particular song once or twice in my days at the arcade back in Kansas. And in all honesty, I think Yusuke had played it more often. He beat me the second round. I growled to myself and stepped forward.

 

“Drop the Bomb? You don't seem the type.”

 

“I'm an eclectic, get dancing, boy.”

 

I was already tired and aching, but this song was important. Either I won this song, or I ate my own words. That all faded away as I listened to one of my favorite songs. I could dance to Drop the Bomb in my sleep. Needless to say, I won third round.

 

“May I choose the last song?” Shuichi stepped forward. “To give the final round a…curve, might you say?”

 

“Sure, go ahead,” Yusuke said.

 

Somehow, I felt that there was something amiss here, but I didn't say anything. I gave a curt nod. Shuichi kept his back in the way so that Yusuke and I couldn't see the song until it started playing.

 

Paranoia.

 

Most people would have panicked. But I'd been practicing this particular song over and over for several weeks, even though I still did miserably on it. For most beginners, Paranoia is the type of song to avoid.

 

I always went for the head-on collision.

 

I missed several of the steps and only made a “Good” on some, but I felt pretty good about my end score. Imagine my surprise when Yusuke and I glanced at the scores on our screen.

 

Exactly the same.

 

We'd tied.

 

Every step of the way.

 

“Oh, my God,” I said. “That's totally impossible…it can't be. How can two people make the same mistakes on the same song at exactly the same time?”

 

“It is improbable, but not impossible,” Shuichi said, smiling quietly. “This, however, means that you are victorious, Bri.”

 

I blinked. “Hey, yeah, you're right.”

 

“But we tied!” Yusuke yelled.

 

“On this song. However, she previously won two out of three.”

 

“But the bet was three out of four!”

 

“Not really,” I said. “You accepted the terms that if, and I quote myself, `If I win.' To which you answered, `All right, you're on, chick.' And again, I say, do not call me `chick' again.”

 

Yusuke glared at me, but was soundly defeated.

 

“Yea! We get to go out to eat on Urameshi!” Kuwabara yelled. He threw an arm around my shoulder. My back stiffened. “All thanks to…what was your name again?”

 

“It's Bri. Bri Wolf. Would you mind letting me go?”

 

“Oh, oh, yeah, sure.” He released me.

 

“Well, let's go inform everyone, whomever `everyone' can mean,” I said. “Where's a good dinner place around here?”

 

“Sammy's is good,” Keiko said. “It's an American-style pizza place. Decent prices, too.”

 

“I get the feeling we're feeding an army, so I guess that's a good idea,” I shrugged. “Tell the others, then. I guess I'll get to meet everyone else, then, right?”

 

“We should invite Hiei,” Shuichi said. “He probably won't come, but we should invite him nonetheless.”

 

“Why wouldn't he come for free food?” I asked. That, at least to me, was the universal thing that everyone would want. Who wouldn't want free food?

 

“It isn't quite the food as it is the company…” Shuichi said, glancing at Kuwabara pointedly. I know the boy seemed fairly annoying, but to give up free food for the sake of avoiding annoyances seemed a little extreme. At least, to me, it did.

 

I didn't voice this, only shrugged and said: “Invite him. Who knows, maybe he'll come, anyway.”

 

Shuichi still looked doubtful, but nodded. “I will find him. Do you know your way back?”

 

“Yeah. See you later!”

 

I smiled at the others and ran to catch the passing trolley.

 

***

 

Here's my theory on how a girl like Bri, without the same powers as Yusuke, could possibly beat him on DDR: He lacks any real coordination. I really do think that Kurama would make a better DDR player than Yusuke, simply for his grace. I think that's why DDR becomes a plot point…

 

Review? Please?