Chapter Twenty-one- Explanations of the Bishonen Sort ~*~ "Hey, everyone, what're ya doing back so soon? Woulda thought you'd stay out longer," Sano greeted them as they came back into the hotel rooms. He seemed blissfully ignorant of the grim expressions among everyone else. "Ne, Missie, I did sorta bang up the TV a bit, but it still works if you punch it in the side where the power was... Heh, heh..." he scratched his head and ^^; ed. Anya ignored him and turned to look at Heero. She sat on the nearest bed and crossed her arms. "Well?" There was a long, uncomfortable silence as Jacky slowly closed the door, and sat on a nearby chair. Chichiri and Inuyasha made themselves comfortable on the floor, while Abby (and a choking Valgaav) took up the other bed. Miroku and Shippou quietly leaned against the nearest wall. Sano blinked after a moment. "Ne, why so quiet? What happened to ya beating me over the head and all?" he questioned. Again, Anya ignored him, looking at Heero. The Gundam Wing Bishonen nodded once, and ran a hand through his hair (an unusual sign of uneasiness in the Gundam fighter). "Mission accepted," he said to himself. Then, louder, he said, "We'll explain as much as we can to you. However, keep in mind that we can't tell all." Anya nodded. "I've understood that since I came here," she said. "And I," came Jacky and Abby's voices in unison. "Good." Heero glanced at Sano, who had question marks floating all around his head. "It's started since about a year ago. That's when we noticed it, anyhow." "Same here," Chichiri agreed. His mask was still off. Under any other circumstances, it would have been likely that he'd have the trainers drooling over him. However, now was obviously not the time for it. He lifted a hand to trace his scar. "It wasn't a big threat at first..." "Whoa, wait, you're not tellin' 'em about-?" Sano demanded. "We are," Chichiri said. "One of our trainer's friends has had their Bishonen kidnapped." "...You're joking." "I am not." Sano turned to the others in the room, but all of them either nodded in confirmation or looked away. "...The hell you all eat? You're all nuts," he muttered. "Tellin' trainers. What's next, tellin' them about our homes, too?" Heero ignored that. "I agree with Chichiri-san. It was not a big threat at first." "We all thought it was just a few more trainers than usual, when the first three or so from our village disappeared," Inuyasha said. He growled and clenched his hands into fists. "Then they started coming back, mad as hell." "Mad?" Anya asked. "You mean, like, when they're caught kind of mad?" "Yes. As though they had been forced away from their trainers for too long..." Chichiri added at the end, "No da." However, it was half-hearted at best. "But who would do that to their own Bishies?" Jacky wondered. "There's more," Sano said, making everyone turned to him with surprised expressions. He glared at them. "What, I can't speak? It's been happening in my home too." He clenched his fists, as though readying to fight something. Then he shook his head, relaxed his hands, and looked back at Anya. "After this started happening, we all noticed a bunch of half Bishonen and Bishoujo roaming around too." "What's that got to do with it?" Anya asked. "Baka, shut up and let us explain," Inuyasha muttered. Jacky started to stand, as though preparing to hit him, but changed her mind and sat back down. Anya frowned. "Fine." "Most of these Halflings were mad," Heero stated. "As mad as their parents. Some were sane, but none were able to explain where they were from, or what they were wandering around for." "What's wrong with Halflings, other than them being mad?" Abby asked. Surprisingly, she had been silent the entire time. Valgaav had as well, though it was for a much more obvious reason (Abby having a choke hold on him). "There's usually nothing... wrong... with Halflings, other than most of us don't exactly appreciate them bugging us," Sano stated, giving the trainer an irritated glance. "But usually there's only one in, say, a hundred of us full-bloods. Now there's ten." "That is a big increase." Anya blinked. "We noticed," Inuyasha drawled. Jacky grabbed a broom from out of nowhere and reached over to hit him on the head with it. Satisfied, she placed the broom on the side of her chair for easy reaching. Inuyasha shot her a glare, but didn't comment. "To add to it, all of these Halflings, even the sane ones, had one thing in mind; capture our children." The last was spat out angrily by Inuyasha. His eyes seemed to become a dark red for a moment before returning to normal. A trickle of blood came from his left hand where he'd been clenching his hand too hard. Jacky now got up to sit next to her Bishonen and placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it sympathetically. Instead of pulling away, like the others half expected, he leaned into her hand and closed his eyes. Inuyasha then took a deep breath as though forcibly trying to calm himself. Anya shook her head. "That's sick," she mumbled. "So you think that this... sicko, or whoever or whatever... is capturing full-blood Bishonen to create these Halflings, all for the purpose of capturing your kids? Why? Why can't they just take the kids?" "We have discovered that they are trying to breed more Halflings," Heero stated. "But why?" "That's the question. To make us all into slaves for humans, to kill off humans OR Bishonen, to generally create a whole new species for powers' sake..." Sanosuke shrugged. "We don't know." The trainers swallowed and glanced at each other. "Are any humans looking into this?" Abby asked. "No," Inuyasha spat. "None that we know of," Chichiri rebuked him gently. Anya suddenly glanced up at Sano. "Ne, Sano? Is this what you were talking to those other Bishonen about all those times?" she asked. He glanced away and nodded. At this point, Chibi Kenshin walked into the room, whistling cheerfully. "Oh, hiya, Annie-dono!" he said with a ^_^. "We were wondering when you'd come back, that we were..." He faltered when he realized everyone in the room was silent, and staring at him. "...N-nani?" he asked. Anya suddenly stood up, walked over, picked him up, and hugged him. "Oro?" Then she looked up at Sano, a fearful question in her eyes. "Do you... possibly think this... was what that halfling was after? To capture Kenshin?" "I don't doubt it, Missie." "And... They might do it again?" "Not just to Kenshin," Chichiri said. "To anyone... no da." The room was uncomfortably quiet. The only sound made was of Valgaav gagging and passing out, for Abby's grip on him had become almost deadly. "And... About Miya-chan... And her Hotohori?" Anya said. "You don't think... they're making Halflings with the caught Bishonen AND the trainer, do you?" Sano glanced away. "Oh, my Kami..." Anya sat back on the bed, Kenshin still in her arms. Worried at the quiet and at everyone's way of talking, Kenshin snuggled back, looking up at his trainer with big eyes. "Don't worry, Annie-dono, I'll train more and evolve to protect you an' everyone else, that I will," he said solemnly. For an answer, she ruffled his thick red mane of hair and gave him a small smile. He smiled back, thankful for this much recognition, and closed his eyes to relax a bit. "Since this is now obviously happening to trainers, too," Chichiri began, "we'll have to be on guard. We'll all have to train, not just Kenshin." "I guessed that, baka," Sano growled. Chichiri turned, a hurt and incredulous expression on his face. "Why are you being so rude?" he asked. "Because you're being too obvious for my health," Sano said. He crossed his arms. "The hell else you think we'd do? Sit here and twiddle our thumbs like you? We gotta protect our trainers and ourselves. Obviously. I think we all noticed." The blue-haired Bishonen winced at the verbal jabs, then turned to fully face Sano. "Iie, it's not just that, Sano. You've been rude to me since we got out of that village with Anya-dono. What's that all about?" There was another long silence, this one incredibly awkward. Jacky pretended to be fascinated with Inuyasha's ears. Abby began poking Valgaav to see if he was all right (he'd finally passed out). The rest of the room became very interested in the carpet, the ceiling, or the walls. Anya was the only exception, staring from one Bishonen to the other with wide eyes. Finally, Sano glanced away. "Nothin'," he muttered. "Just ****in' nothing." He turned and marched out of the hotel room, slamming the door shut. Anya blinked, and looked at her other Bishonen in confusion. "'Chiri?" He turned back to her and shrugged. "I want to know," he said simply. The trainer frowned. Then she looked at the door. Finally, she glanced down at the Chibi nestled in her arms. In one swift motion, she stood, handed Kenshin to a startled Chichiri, and marched out the door after her Sanosuke. Chichiri nearly dropped Kenshin in his surprise, blinking as his trainer disappeared as well. Then he sighed and looked to the others. "Now what should we do?" "Shouldn't one o' ya go after her?" Inuyasha muttered. "Ah, so you DO care," Jacky teased him. He ignored her. "After all, she is your trainer an' all," he said. "I can sense her ki... no da. She is distressed, but will be fine with Sano around." Chichiri sat down on the bed, where Anya had been, and looked around again. "Until they return, let's try to figure out what to do from here." "May I suggest training in more gyms?" Jacky said. The trainer blushed when all of the Bishonen glanced up at her. "I mean, it's a public area, so my thoughts would be that even a sicko wouldn't be stupid enough to try and get us while we're working out there. Plus, we can warn other trainers of what's going on." Inuyasha stared at his trainer, then put a hand on her forehead. "N-nani?" she asked, frowning at him. "I was checking for a fever. Yer acting really smart all of a sudden." She slapped his hand away, blushing slightly. "Ano..." "It is a good idea, but let's explore other options too before we make a decision, no da," Chichiri said. The others nodded, and started to try and think of ideas. At this, Abby looked up from Valgaav and tilted her head to one side. "I'm hungry! Who's up for sugar?" Everyone face-faulted. ~*~ Anya glanced down the hallway, left, then right. She spotted Sano just turning the corner to her left. "Ne, Sano! Wait up!" She started after him. If anything, the Bishonen walked faster. "Sanosuke! Sagara Sanosuke, if you don't slow down this minute you will have to find your own food again!" she declared. Reluctantly, he stopped. However, he remained turned away. "Leave me alone, Missie." "The hell I will! What is going on?" She walked up to him, stopping a few feet behind him. She eyed her Bishonen for a moment. "You're tense as anything, and you were being unnecessarily rude to 'Chiri back there." "Sure, trust your favorite Bishonen Chichiri." Anya stopped, as though she'd been slapped across the face. White-hot anger flashed through her face. Then she seemed expressionless. "Is that what this is about?" she asked quietly. Sano sighed. "Here we go with the damn hormones," he muttered. "Do you honestly think I'm favoring one of you over the other? Sano, you're my first Bishonen. You always will be." "Then why the hell won't you ever trust my judgement?" He whirled around and glared at her. "What about when you got captured? What about when I didn't want that... that... blue-haired freak to-" "He is NOT a freak!" "See? There you go, defending him again. Why do I bother?" Sano turned away again. "Sanosuke, you are being completely unfair. He made some honest mistakes, and he paid for them. Like Kenshin tried to, like you've been trying... like half of the freaking Bishonen in this world are trying to, or have tried." The Bishonen was silent. "Besides, Sano, I've seen your way of finding things before." She had to smile, despite how upset she felt. "Remember Kyoto?" He flinched, and she could see some red creeping up his neck. "That's a low blow, Missie," he muttered. "I know. I shouldn't have trusted 'Chiri right off the bat, but I was feeling a bit too optimistic, I guess. It's the fangirl in me, maybe. Felt so happy I thought everything would go okay. And it did, up until now." Anya looked back down the hall, momentarily marvelling at the fact that no one had come out to see what was going on. Then her mind returned to business. "Look, I'm sorry if I acted like I never trusted you. It's just... you never really acted like you trusted me, up 'till lately." He snorted. "Then you're clueless." He turned back. Anya could see the faintest beginnings of a rueful smile on his face. "I trusted ya, and I started to worry about you even before that mad halfling attacked you." He walked over until he stood only a couple feet away from her again. "And for your information, Missie, you are NOT a fangirl. Not by normal terms." She shook her head. "Then why am I here?" "Because you were picked or somethin'. The hell you expect me to know about your old world? I know jack ****-" "Watch your language in-" she began automatically, then clamped a hand over her mouth and blushed slightly. "Sorry, habit." "It's fine. I got used to it." He reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled it down. Then he surveyed her knuckles for a moment, like he had a long while ago. "You know, you should work on those punches of yours. Now that we're openly talking about these threats, some self defence may come in handy." Anya blinked, and pulled her hand away. "Are you saying you'll teach me how to fight?" "Fight better, anyway." Sano shrugged. "Of course, if you want Mister Sugoi Blue-Hair to train you, that's fine..." "Mister Sugoi Blue-Hair?" Anya asked, grinning. "Where do you get these names, Sano?" She then reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "And for YOUR information, I wouldn't mind a lesson or two." Slowly, he grinned back. "Great! I mean, that's fine," he muttered casually, brushing off her hand. "Might as well get back, others may be worried an' all that..." "Yes, of course." The two turned back towards the room, and slowly made their way back. "By the way, how'd ya know about Kyoto?" "I know many things, young grasshopper," Anya laughed mysteriously. She gained a hit to the head. "Hey!" "Gotcha!" "Sano, you are so dead! Get back here!" "Nya-uh!" The two raced through the hallways. Only now, when the argument was over, did some trainers and their Bishies peer into the hall to see what on earth was going on.