Chapter Twenty-two- Decisions and the Training Begins ~*~ "Ugh..." Miya-chan winced as she felt a sharp pain shoot through her head, from temple to temple. Gingerly, she lifted one hand to touch the left side of her face, and winced again. "What's going on?" she mumbled. "Oh, good, you're awake!" came a voice. "Huh?" The trainer looked up to see she was in a small dark room, lying on a bed. It wasn't a very comfortable bed, mind you; it was only just big enough and comfortable enough to lie on. There was another bed across from hers of the exact same make. Other than that, a plush chair in the corner, and a set of drawers, the room was bare of furniture. And on that other bed sat a young woman. Miya-chan blinked, and sat up hurriedly. "What- OW!" She lay back down, gritting her teeth against the sudden jolt of pain. "Careful, they must've hit you hard," the girl said softly. "I'd offer you an aspirin, but I don't think they'd oblige us." "They who?" Miya-chan asked, in the same soft voice. "Who are you?" "Oh, me?" the girl smiled. "Name's Jessica. You?" "Miya-chan. Where... ugh... are we?" "Frankly... I have no clue. All I know is we're on floor 3B of some laboratory." "Laboratory? What're we doing here?" Jessica glanced away. "So they can experiment on us and our Bishonen, of course. What did you expect?" "Bishonen...? Hotohori! And Duo, and-" "Calm down. Chances are they're all okay, just in another room. We're rarely allowed to see them, but we can tell if they're getting hurt, remember? From orientation and all that?" Slowly, the other trainer nodded. "What are they experimenting on us for?" "They want half Bishies." "What does that have to do with-" Miya-chan stopped and blushed. The implications of what Jessica had just said hit her like a bucket of ice cold water. "You mean... they don't make us..." Jessica laughed. However, it wasn't a laugh with much mirth in it. "No, they extract that sorta thing from us. We just get to watch our innocence, not to mention our children, go bye-bye. Repeatedly." She laughed again, and Miya-chan shuddered. "Has that happened to you?" Miya-chan asked with wide eyes. "Me? No, not yet thank Kami. But it happened to my last roommate, and after a while she went crazy. And they're starting to push at me now. They say if I don't cooperate they'll send Legolas out into the middle of nowhere until he dies of madness." "But can't we free them?" Miya-chan asked. "Then they won't get hurt!" "Take a look, Miya-chan. Can we?" The trainer blinked, then her eyes widened again. "My Bishie balls are gone! And my belt!" She clenched her fists. "What're they trying to pull? They can't do this to us!" "They have done it, and they'll keep doing it, I'm afraid. We don't have too much choice. We either follow them or lose our Bishonen in the worst way possible..." Jessica shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be scaring you like this. You just woke up." "No, it's fine. I should know what's going on. So when do you think they'll come and talk to me?" "Probably after you get freaked out completely. That's what they did to me. They like to see us scared and cooperative. Look, Miya-chan... The best way to get outta here or stay all right is if you show you're not scared of losing your Bishonen or anything like that." Jessica shook her head. There was a long silence. Then, "Why are they creating halfling?" Miya-chan asked, trying to somewhat change the subject. "They're trying to find a way to wipe them out completely, or make sure they can get captured like full bloods. That's what I meant by them killing off trainer's kids. The experimenter, whoever they are, seems to find it entertaining to watch them get killed." "That's... sick!" "I know." "How long have you been stuck in this place?" Miya-chan asked. "At least four or five days." "Then I should have some time before they...?" "Hopefully." "Good. Maybe I'll find a way out for us then." Miya-chan moaned as she felt another sharp pain. "When my headache goes away, that is." Jessica finally stood and walked over to Miya-chan's bed, sitting beside the other trainer. She put a hand on Miya-chan's shoulder. "Believe me, we all tried. But whoever's in charge here always has one or two Bishonen on guard, and they're all toughies. There's at least one Hiei, and one of the other trainers said he once saw a Yami Yugi wandering around." Miya-chan shuddered. "That's not a good combination..." "I didn't think so. Here, I can at least get you some water; there's a small bathroom in the corner over here. Not much, but hey..." Jessica helped her up and led her over to a door that Miya-chan hadn't noticed before. Inside, the trainer got her a glass of water and they both made their way back to the beds. "Well... let's try to keep our minds off this place for a while, ne?" Jessica asked with a small smile. "How about we talk Bishies? Or... where we're from?" "Sure." Their talk lasted for the next few hours. ~*~ "I don't see why you can't go talk to your victims yourself," Bryanna snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at the experimenter. "Because I don't feel like it. I'm busy." "Oh, and I'm not?" Bryanna's eyes flashed dangerously. "Watch yourself, girl. I'm only helping 'cause Logan's my friend, not because I really believe in this bull." "And by bull you mean...?" "By bull I mean what you're unnecessarily putting all these Bishonen and their trainers through." "That's too bad you feel that way. I was hoping you'd voluntarily helped me." The other redhead turned to glance at the fuming trainer coolly. "Let me put it this way. You have no real choice unless you want your Bishonen to become my guinea pigs too." "Ha. Like my Yamis would even let you touch them." "I wouldn't have to. You've seen our little teleporting device. All I'd have to do is snap my fingers. Then Hiei-kun would be able to send them to the coldest, most remote spot on the planet in a matter of seconds." Bryanna paled, then forced herself to regain her composure. The experimenter smiled slightly. "You're suddenly quiet, friend. Please, do speak your mind like you always do. I enjoy listening to you babbling on." "That is IT." Bryanna lunged at her. "Hiei!" The demon Bishonen appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and knocked the redhead trainer off of the experimenter with one blow. Bryanna slammed into a nearby wall. "****, damn it!" The trainer slowly got back to her feet, rubbing one arm that felt numb. "Hiei-kun, I think she needs to watch one of her Bishies go mad. Slowly." The Bishonen nodded in understanding, lifting up a Bish-ball that neither trainer had seen a moment before. "All right. How about this Lina Bishoujo?" "How the hell did you get that?" Bryanna demanded. She looked down at her Bish-belt, then at the ball in his hand incredulously. "Now, friend, let me make this perfectly clear. I'm only dealing with YOU because you are one of Logan's friends, and I'm his friend. I wouldn't dream of hurting him, but I have no such qualms about you. Now go and check on our newest trainer and her Bishonen, and we'll take good care of your Lina." Bryanna's eyes flashed, and for a moment they seemed to become a murderous red. Then she calmed down. "Sure." The only thing giving away her anger when she turned away was her hands, clenching tightly enough for her nails to draw blood. "Freaking *****, has no right to..." Her voice trailed off as she disappeared around a corner. The redhead experimenter smiled again. "Well, that went well, didn't it Hiei-kun?" "I would say so," he said, glancing at the Bish-ball in distaste. "Can I put this down now? There's too much... positive energy coming from here." "Of course. Please set it on my desk. I'm sorry for disturbing you, but my employees seem to be having problems following simple instructions." Hiei flashed her a smile. "Ne, no worries. I'd do whatever I could for my trainer, and ya know it." He gave her thumbs up. "Just call anytime. I'll be in the arcade." With that, he left. ~*~ ((Ne, Neko-chan, please don't kill me having this happen to your character. Onegai?)) ~*~ "We're back," Anya said, opening the door. "Wai, welcome back!" declared someone in the room. The trainer and Sano sweat-dropped when they saw who it was. "Paul?" Anya asked slowly. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be gone by now." He shrugged. "Yeah, well, look who I caught!" He gestured to someone else. Anya's eyes widened. "Oh my Kami, you did NOT bring an Excel into our hotel rooms!" "Did too," he said, pouting. "She's awesome! I wish I coulda caught a Bishonen or two by now, too, but I will eventually ne?" He flashed a smile and thumbs up at her. "But where...?" Anya sweat-dropped again to see that Chichiri and Kenshin were peeking out from under the monk's hat, while Inuyasha and Jacky had taken refuge under the bed. Heero was peeking out from the bathroom with a gun in hand, watching the insane Bishoujo and her trainer suspiciously. Miroku and Shippou were nowhere in sight. Abby sat glomping onto Valgaav (as always). Jacky waved. "Welcome back!" "How did Paul get in here again?" Anya asked her, kneeling by the bed. "He just marched in, begged to have a room with us, and Abby accepted! Can you believe it? We're switching stuff up now; I'm in your room. The crazies get their own room, and us semi-sane folk get this one." "Fine by me as long as Excel stops messing it up!" Anya turned to look at said Bishoujo. "I, Excel- Excel, will defeat all manga artists and destroy the manga because that's what my Iilpallazo-sama wants. Not to mention my new trainer is friends with him, and I want to meet him and then maybe, maybe-" Excel's eyes got very wide and shiny as she struck a pose and stared out the window. "Maybe then I can be friends with him too, maybe more! Because I am Excel- Excel and an innocent maiden such as myself deserves someone like Iilpallazo-sama, ne Paul-kun? Ne, ne, ne, ne, ne?" Paul grinned. "Ain't she great?" He ^^ed. "Uh... sure... How on earth did you CATCH her, anyway?" "I just told her I'm a friend of Iilpallazo, and that if she was a good girl I'd take her to see him." Paul shrugged. "Say, you don't know where I could capture an Iilpallazo, would you?" Anya rubbed her temples as Excel continued to rant on about who knew what, while Paul went on about capturing a new Bishonen. "I think I have a headache now." Sanosuke put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go for a walk or something 'till they're gone, or at least asleep," he suggested. "TAKE US WITH YOU!" her Bishonen, Jacky, and Inuyasha hollered. "No da!" Chichiri added from under his hat. "A-ano, how about the gym?" Anya suggested. "YES, YES!" With that, the room was instantly empty save for Paul, Excel, Abby and Valgaav. Abby looked up, releasing her Valgaav for a moment. "Where'd everyone go?" "For a walk." Paul ^^ed again and continued to watch Excel. "But seriously, I wanna find a Giru or maybe someone from Fushigi Yuugi." "Tomo is MINE," Abby declared hotly. Paul's eyes got watery. Then he said, "Fine, then I wanna catch any of the others we come across!" Abby faltered. "Demo, demo... if ya do, can I give them hugs?" Paul considered this. Then he grinned. "Only if I can glomp your future Bishies!" he said. "Deal!" Abby ^.^ed and latched onto Valgaav again. "Oh, Gods save me please," Valgaav choked. ~*~ A few minutes later, the rest of the group was at the gym in the training room. Most were panting; they'd all run as fast as they could out of the hotel. Kenshin was now in Anya's arms, simply smiling at the lot of them. Jacky leaned against Inuyasha, who only tried to shove her off once. "Well... that was special," Anya managed. "Yeah, no da," Chichiri agreed. He put a hand on her shoulder, and pointedly glanced at Sano before looking back at her. Even with his mask on, she could tell he was slightly worried about what had happened. She flashed him a smile. "It's mmkay, Chiri," she assured him. He gave a small smile back and moved away again. "Well, we came up with our plan for now, no da." "And that is?" Sano asked. Chichiri glanced at him, then at the others. "It was Jacky-dono's idea, actually. She suggested we train in the gyms, so we're in a public area. Whoever's after trainers and their Bishonen most likely wouldn't dare try to get a hold of us, at least, in the gym. Even if we're tired, no da." "Really? Great idea, Jacky!" Anya said. She smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "Aw, it was nothing." "Yeah, well, you certainly WEIGH somethin'. Get offa me," Inuyasha growled. The two trainers got daggers in their eyes and stared at him. "You say something?" Jacky asked, reaching out to touch his necklace warningly. "Care to repeat it?" "Ah... no, thanks." "I thought so." She leaned against him all the more, smiling. "Women..." "Well, since we're here, let's get to work!" Sanosuke announced. "Missie, ya coming with me an' Kenshin?" "Sure! How about we all just stay in this area for now?" Anya scanned the huge gym. "We should all have enough room, there isn't anyone else out right now." "Yeah, most people are having lunch or tea or something now," Jacky said. "They'll probably come in later, so let's use this time to our advantage." "Good idea, no da," Chichiri said. Then puzzlement crossed his face. "Whatcha gonna do with Sanosuke, Anya-dono no da?" "Sano's giving me some self-defence tips," Anya replied. "Come on, Sano." Grinning, said Bishonen obliged. ~*~ 45 Minutes Later ~*~ "Okay, no more. I so quit." Sanosuke snorted and crossed his arms. "Please. You're barely pushing yourself past your old limit. Try again." "Hey, I know when I'm tired and when I'm not. I'm not pushin' it the first lesson, Sanosuke." Anya ran a hand through her hair and leaned against a nearby wall. The cool cement felt good against her head and neck. "Fine, whatever." But he nodded in approval. "Yer punches aren't bad," he said. "Thanks. Is there water around here?" Sano pointed to a water fountain and smirked. Anya sweat-dropped; it was across the gym. "Right over there." "I don't suppose you'd carry me, would you?" she asked. "Nope." "Aw... I'll live." She slid into a sitting position. The two were silent for a while. Anya surveyed the rest of the group. Chichiri was sitting in a nearby corner, meditating. Chibi Kenshin was slamming his wooden sword repeatedly into a kicking bag. He was doing pretty well, actually. Inuyasha was in the center of the huge gym, practicing what seemed to be sword forms, while Jacky watched him carefully for any mess-ups. Miroku, who'd gotten out of his Bish-ball, was also meditating, but only half-heartedly. Shippou was asleep next to him. Heero was working on some punching bags himself, a few feet away. Then new voices caught Anya's attention. "Guys, will you stop it already?" "Ha! I got 'er! Ya owe me, Kurama!" "I do not owe you anything, Tasuki." "Aw, c'mon, look at her! She's red as a beet! I get that gold piece, an' ya know it! Pay up!" Anya heard an audible sigh. "Very well." "Jeez, can't you guys find something better to bet over?" the first voice asked. "Nope, it's much more fun teasin' ya," Tasuki's voice responded. "Darn..." Out of the nearby entrance to the gym came a young woman with three Bishonen in tow. Two of them were obviously Kurama and Tasuki, the two Bishonen they'd heard talking about money. The third was a Hiei. The girl had short brown hair and dark eyes, and a fairly pale complexion. At least, she would if she hadn't been bright red at the moment. The girl's blush disappeared, however, when she realized the gym had other trainers and Bishies in it. "Ne, what's up?" she said, approaching Anya. Anya smiled. "Hi, I'm Anya." "I'm Kimiko. Wow, you look tired. Training with your Bishies?" "Yup." "Cool." Kimiko smiled. "Are all of these yours?" she asked, indicating the entire gym. Anya shook her head. "Nah, Jacky caught a few of them." "Who?" Anya pointed at the other trainer. Kimiko blinked. "Wow, I thought she was Kagome!" she exclaimed, then blushed slightly. Kurama suddenly commented to Tasuki, "She just embarrassed herself. Who gets the money this time?" "Ain't sure. Eh, let's just let it go like usual." "Very well." Kimiko sighed. "Will you two STOP that?" "Nope." Both ^^ed, though Tasuki added in a fanged grin. "At least Hiei's sane," Kimiko muttered to Anya, who laughed. Hiei smirked and crossed his arms. "At least as far as we all know," he commented. "You're right, sometimes it is hard to tell when you're driving like a bat out of hell," Kimiko said. "I do NOT drive like that!" "You do too," Kurama cut in. "Hmph. See if I ever drive you guys anywhere." "Whatever," Tasuki said, waving his free hand. In the other hand he held a huge, silver, metal tessen that rested on his shoulder. "I still say I drive better 'n all o' ya." "Riiiight," his companions drawled. Before he could respond Anya cut in. "Anyway," she said. "I caught Sano here, that Kenshin, Chichiri and Heero. Jacky has everyone else." Kimiko nodded politely at Sano, though her eyes didn't quite meet his. "Um, hi." Then her eyes fell on Chibi Kenshin. "Oh, my God! That's your Kenshin? He's so kawaii!" The Tasuki's eyes suddenly went guarded. "He's a Chibi." The other two Bishonen became very, very silent and tense. Anya sighed. "Here we go again." She pulled out her Bish-Dex. "List Chibi Kenshin's stats," she told it. The thing beeped in reply. "Chibi Kenshin, no nickname, stage Chibi. Caught by consent of Himura Kenshin, not caught, stage Sama..." Tasuki and the other Bishonen visibly relaxed. "Ah, s'all right then," Tasuki said cheerfully. He pulled out a bottle and offered it to Anya. "Sake?" "Ah... Sano, you want some?" Sanosuke's eyes widened eagerly. "Sure!" Tasuki grinned. "Finally, anot'er guy who likes sake!" "More'n you, I bet!" "Ha, how much ya wanna bet on that, headband boy?" "Headband BOY? You're at least a foot shorter than me!" Sano declared. Tasuki waved the bottle of sake. He took a deep drink, finishing off about half of it in one gulp. "Ah." Then he tossed the rest at Sano. The other Bishonen did the same. "Yosh! Let's go find a bar, ne?" Anya hung her head as Sano turned to her, eager as a small puppy. "Can I, can I? Just for an hour or two?" he asked. She sighed. "Fine. Just... try not to get too drunk, ne?" "Alright! Arigatou!" Sano suddenly hugged her. Then he marched off, arm in arm with Tasuki. "Hey, Tasuki-kun!" Kimiko called. "Tasuki?" "Be back in a while! Don't let Kurama get t' ya!" Tasuki hollered. Then the two Bishonen were gone. Anya smiled. "So much for guarding his trainer," she muttered. "So much for them watching over us," Kimiko said, grinning. "Yeah, really." Both laughed a little. Then Kimiko said, "So how long have you been in this world?" "Oh me?" Anya did her best to mentally count up the days. "Um, I think a few weeks, maybe a couple months now. Whew. What about you?" "I've been here about a year," Kimiko said. "Cool." "Ne, I was wondering," Kimiko said. "Have you seen a trainer named MorTae around?" "Uh... never heard of 'em," Anya replied. "She's got really silver hair and bright green eyes. Kind of think Sephiroth if you ever played Final Fantasy." "Ooh, like Mako-green eyes? That's awesome!" "Yeah. And she's got all Bakura Bishonen." "Bakura Bishonen?" "Yeah. Like, Ryou Bakura, Yami Bakura, and Ancient Egypt Bakura." Anya blinked. "Whoa. That's a lot of different types of the same Bishie." "Yeah, that's what I said when I first met her. It's amazing at first, but after a while you learn how to tell them apart. Like the Yami's always trying to get a hold of something sharp or otherwise dangerous, Ryou's always the peaceful one hiding under the table, and the Thief Bakura is the one always with his hand in your pocket going for your money." "Ah." Anya grinned. "Sounds like a handful." "She's obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh stuff." Kimiko shrugged and smiled. "Me, I like a few more animes at once. But, we've been travelling together for the past few months, and I haven't seen her since last week." Anya grew silent. Then, "Oh?" Kimiko didn't seem to notice that the other trainer was acting strangely, though Kurama's eyes narrowed and Hiei stopped leaning against the wall. "Yeah. Her Yami Bakura wandered off, and after a day she got worried so she went looking for him. I haven't seen any of them since." She bit her lip. "Tasuki keeps teasing me and saying that maybe it was a polite way of telling me she didn't want to travel with me anymore, but I'm worried. I even called the authorities, and they have no idea where she is." "How would they?" Anya asked, trying to keep her voice casual and low. It was becoming a strain, however; ANOTHER trainer, apparently, had been captured with her Bishonen. "The authorities have tracking devices in everyone's Dexes. So if someone commits a crime, they generally look for the Dex. But they can't find MorTae's Dex signal anywhere." "...Kimiko, I think I need to let you in on something." The trainer tilted her head to one side. "Okay...?" "We- that is, my Bishonen, Jacky and I- have just discovered that all of us and our Bishies are in serious danger of getting kidnapped." Now Kimiko and her Bishonen blinked. "Nani?"