Chapter Thirty-two- Stuff ^^;

~*~

The meeting was finally over.

Anya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as she, Kenshin, Chichiri, Sano and Heero wandered through the hallways in the gym-turned-stadium. Even though they had somehow managed to get lost, it was still a relief.

An experienced trainer had shooed away everyone who'd already been in a tournament before, so Kimiko and Jacky had been sent off. Abby had been there, but was probably now chasing someone else's Bishonen.

Anyway, then the trainer had explained how things would go...

~*~ Flashback ~*~

"Okay, we normally have a large number of trainers. Today it's generally only a local tournament so we only have an even 64 trainers. Now for the most part, girls shall battle against girls, and boys will battle boys. This isn't because of the trainers; it is merely because the majority of girls will battle Bishonen, and the majority of guys will battle Bishoujo.

"For now, you are free to go where you wish. At some point, when your battle is about to come up, you will be called on the PA. Make your way to a stadium door and wait until LSS-sama calls you out.

"And for Kami's sake, please DON'T say something that will embarrass you OR us!"

~*~ End Flashback ~*~

"It was all rather pointless if you ask me," Sano muttered. "It seemed like common sense."

"Well, sometimes trainers can be the ditzy type, no da," Chichiri said thoughtfully. "A friend of mine was captured by one."

"Ditzy?" Kenshin questioned.

"Hai no da. As in, they're about half as hyper as, oh, I don't know, Paul or Abby."

"Naru hodo."

Anya glanced at her newly evolved Bishonen. Kenshin had just been speaking in a rather noncommittal voice, and had done so since they'd left the hospital.

Except for that first night when they'd gotten back to the hotel, that is. Anya's cheeks flushed at the memory of Kenshin trying to sleep with her as he had when he was a Chibi. It had taken a great effort from herself AND the other Bishonen to convince him he couldn't do such anymore.

Of course, Kenshin brought up the fact that Chichiri once slept with him and Anya, but that was quickly explained as well.

Now he was almost always depressed looking, unless of course someone mentioned a fight. Then his eyes would turn gold and he'd tighten the grip on a new sword Anya had hesitantly bought him- actually, it was a real blade now.

Impulsively, the trainer caught up to him and gave him a quick hug from behind. This seemed to surprise him, and his narrow eyes widened into what reminded her of his usual Chibi expressions. He seemed to silently ask her, "What'd I do?" She merely smiled at him and kept on walking.

At least, she did until Sano stopped, making her bump into him.

"OW!"

"Itai! What'd you do that for, Missie?"

"Why'd you stop?"

He turned around and crossed his arms. "Do you have ANY clue where we are?"

Anya thought about that for a moment. "Hmm..." Then she ^_^ed. "Nope, not a clue!"

All of her Bishonen face-faulted.

"Then why have we been going on for so long?" Sano asked.

"Because when one gets lost, one picks a single direction and keeps going straight on," Anya said. "I've found it the best way to get un-lost." Then she assumed a thoughtful expression. "Or the best way to find someone to help you get un-lost."

The Bishonen sweat-dropped.

"Right. Sure."

Then Anya lit up. "Hey, that's the Professor guy from earlier!" she pointed down the hallway. "See, I told you we wouldn't get lost! Let's ask him where we are!" With that, she hurried down the hall.

Said Professor was in a deep discussion with his Washu about something.

"...Data is quite correct. Since when has my data collector gone wrong?" the Washu was asking.

"Well, actually, there WAS-"

"That was a special case," Washu interrupted. "Honestly, that other Washu was just being a pain and sabotaged my data. My point is that my data is never incorrect. There WAS a Megumi here. We WILL find one soon!"

Sanosuke snorted.

This caused trainer and Bishoujo to turn around.

"Oh sure, you must think it's funny for us to be looking for a Megumi," the trainer said, looking at Sanosuke. "Just laugh it up, will you? Smug Bishonen..." Then he noticed Anya. "Ah, a fellow trainer! Tell me, have you ever seen a Megumi around here?"

Anya blinked. "Um, no?"

"Didn't expect you to." He turned away. "But we are so close! Washu, as soon as you're done analyzing the last bit of data you've collected we'll take a quick break with the others so we'll be fresh for our discovery!"

"Of course! Now let the greatest genius in the universe do her thing, Steve!" Washu said with a ^_^.

Anya sweat-dropped. /Right. / "Why are you so intent on finding a Megumi?"

"Because you never see them. You know they're there, but you never see one!" the professor- Steve- explained. "It's like trying to find an oak tree in the rainforest."

Kenshin blinked. "There are oak trees in rainforests, that there are?" he questioned, looking mildly confused. "I thought they were for cooler temperatures."

Anya sweat-dropped, and the other trainer looked like he'd heard something remarkably- well, stupid. "They AREN'T in rainforests, is my point," the professor explained.

"I see..."

"So you are in the tournament, I presume?" Steve asked.

"Yup. Three of my Bishies are participating. You?"

"Yes. That way I have access to everywhere a Megumi could possibly sneak through around here. Well, excepting LSS-sama's temporary quarters of course. I have yet to gain permission to go there... Yet..."

"Ano, could you tell us which way we should go to get to the battle field, no da?" Chichiri requested.

"We're lost," Anya admitted.

"Oh, not particularly so. You're on the right track, you see. Just keep going until you find a corridor heading to your left. Follow that, and then go left again. Then you should be able to follow the sounds of the crowd and the music they've begun to play."

"Thanks," Anya said.

"Not a problem. If you should find ANY hint of a Megumi, please come and let me know," he said.

"Um... okay."

"Thanks to you as well. Come, Washu."

Washu hit him on the head. "You don't order me around, buster!" Then she smiled. "So let's go already!"

Anya sweat-dropped again, then turned to her Bishonen. "Shall we?" she asked.

"Yes," came four replies.

The group followed the directions as told, and eventually began to hear music and the crowd cheering up above as Steve had mentioned. Anya listened curiously to the music- she hadn't heard that song anywhere before.

"Can't get you outta my head,

Can't get you outta my mind!

Dunno what to say,

Dunno what to do,

Can't you see, Bishie?

I just can't stay away from you...

I just can't pull myself away

When I see you on the screen,

I get just kinda hypnotized

It's actually kinda creepy!

And now I'm here and now you're here

No longer on the screen,

I can now be with you!

Ain't ya glad?

..."

"What is that music?" Anya asked as they followed its sounds.

Sanosuke snorted. "The fangirl theme to the Bishie world. What, you never heard it before?"

"No, it's the first time."

"Huh. Well, whatever. Let's head out and see what's going on in that first battle."

"Sure thing!"

~*~

"You feeling better now, Hiei?"

"Yeah." Hiei flexed his muscles. "That Chibi transforming caught me off guard. Once again, I apologize."

"You can't help it sometimes, Hiei-kun. Don't worry about the past- think about the future! Let's aim for another of her Bishies. Sanosuke will be on his guard, and so will that newly transformed Kenshin of hers. How about her Chichiri, or her Heero? Or..." She smiled.

"Ah. I get it." Hiei smiled back. "Then we'll have all of them at once. Leave that to me. Her friend's got a Hiei, after all."

"You read my thoughts so well these days, Hiei-kun. Make sure she's relatively alone, if you can, and definitely out of view of... who was it? Kimiko and her Bishonen."

"Got it." Hiei nodded. "We'll get more people this way. Oh, how's the contract with Eclipse going?"

"Master Eclipse? We've got an agreement now. He's holding meetings with all Bishonen who have so much as a hint of magic in them. They're going to seal off their cities so humans can't touch them or stumble across them accidentally anymore. All free Bishies will retreat to these sealed-off areas. Then we, Hiei-kun, will be the only source of anything near Bishies. Humans will become hooked on halflings soon, I assure you. Even the insane ones. We just need one more, hem, pair to work with."

"I'll start looking for an opportunity," Hiei promised. With that, he was gone.

Kara looked up. "Ah, Anya, what are friends for anyway?" she asked the ceiling.

The ceiling, inanimate as it was, didn't respond.