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Down Yusuke fell into the pit he had involentarilly walked into. He landed with a loud thud, but was otherwise unharmed, as the soil was very soft in this pit. He pushed himself up and glanced around, " Oh, now where am I? And I lost Hiei."
On the contrary! He turned and happened to catch a glimpse of pink. " Hiei? Er....I mean...White Rabbit?!"
The Hiei Rabbit didn’t respond but kept skipping along. Wait...Hiei...skipping? Yusuke shook his head. This was just getting wierder and wierder. He pushed himself up and chased after the pink nightmare. Upon coming around a corner, he saw the little yokai rabbit slip through a small door in a wall. Yusuke ran to the door, skidding to a stop.
" Well, if he can do it, so can I." He muttered, getting on his knees and examining the door. It was so small it was amazing even Hiei could have made it through. He sighed and reached for the knob and gave it a turn.
" Dammit! Locked!"
Yusuke sat crossed-legged on the floor, rather annoyed. " Where the Hell am I anyway? This is just crazy! How the Hell do I get outta here?!"
" Mmmmm," a sly voice hummed. " Sometimes the way foreward is sometimes the way back."
" What the..." Yusuke turned partially, to where he heard the voice. It was very familiar. He peered a white figure on a shelf high above the ground. " Kurama!"
The figure glanced at him and twitched his ears and gave his tail a gentle flick before letting out another harmony of hums. He was dressed in a lovely purple suit with a pink button down and pink and purple vertical striped slacks. The blazer of the suit was a long tail-coat, his silver tail showing between the coat tails. Around his neck was a large and very tacky pink bow as well as another small purple bow at the end of a long white braid in his hair. " I’m the Cheshire Youko, Young Man."
" Chesh....ire....Youko?" Yusuke questioned before shaking his head in utter exhaustion. " Fine. You’re the Cheshire Youko."
" I am?" Kurama asked, perking his ears and widening his gold eyes as though the sentence was news to him.
" That’s what you said!" Yusuke replied.
" I said what?"
" That you were the Cheshire Youko!"
" What about it?"
Yusuke let out a growl and slapped hands over his face, trying to gather himself. " Ooookay, let’s drop the subject."
The Cheshire Youko sat up, feet together with his hands on his ankles, wagging his tail happily, " Splendid idea!" With that, he took a heavy textbook and dropped it to the floor, allowing a very loud "Bang!" On the concrete.
" What the Hell...?!"
" Oh, that’s a book on Politics." Youko smiled.
" Politics?"
" Yes. I find it is my favorite subject to drop." Youko said cheerfully, a wide and sensual smile on his face. His ears twitched with excitement. " It is very loud when it hits the ground, but not too loud, for it’s not heavy like the books on Law. No wonder lawyers are so low."
Yusuke tried very hard to keep the grey hairs from sprouting. " Cheshire Youko," he began slowly, " I’m looking for Hiei. I saw him go this way and through this door."
" Who?"
" The....White Rabbit."
The youko rolled his eyes back in his head in pure ecstacy at the sound of the word, " Oooooooh, a rabbit! I love rabbits. Delicious." He flicked his ears again. " Oh, uhm....why not try the other door, if you’re after the rabbit."
Yusuke glanced around, " Is there another door?"
" You see with logic....and there is no place for that in Wonderland," the Cheshire Youko smiled. He skipped over to another shelf and held up a lighter. " Sometimes we overlook the most childish of nonsense and it muddles up our sight."
" Youko...." Yusuke muttered, rather worried about the situation, ".... what are you doing?"
" Giving you a hand." The fox smiled, flicking on the lighter under a sprinkler. In an instant, all the sprinklers on the ceiling began pouring down water. It was not like the shower one would expect from a sprinkler, but it was actually a large waterfall. Yusuke trudged through the deepening water, searching for a way out.
" Kurama! What’s wrong with you?! I’ll drown!"
" To empty the tub, you see, it’s plain," the Cheshire Youko sang, dancing a little jig, " just pull the plug and send it down the drain!"
With that, the youko leapt from the shelf, and floated slowly about from an umbrella. Yusuke looked around and dove underwater.
=A drain?= He thought. =Is there one? I didn’t see it before.=
He swam around looking for this drain, seeing a fish here and there. He finally caught sight of a large cork and chain. =That must be it!= He came up for one last breath fo air and dove back down, yanking on the chain. =C’mon, Dammit!= He yelled in his mind, struggling with the chain. There was no point in going back up for air now, there wasn’t enough space. He tugged and tugged until he finally felt the cork give way and pull out, sending Yusuke slowly backwards. Like a horrible whirlpool the water was sucked into the drain, the sound similar to a flushing toilet began to take place.
Yusuke was caught swiftly in the current and down the drain, " Kurama!"
It was no use. Down he went, being tossed out into a pond under a large pipe. On the bank was another small patch of woods and...a beach? Yusuke peeked around. This...wasn’t a pond. It was like some very poor excuse for an ocean. He put the thought aside and swam to the sandy beach/bank and brushed the wet hair out of his face.
" Quite a wet mess we have here," a voice said flatly. Yusuke was almost afraid to see who had been dragged into this nightmare now. He peered up slowly and noticed the figure dressed in black. Oh, he looked no different even in this nightmare. Well, almost. The only difference was the plumage on his head. A lovely crest of purple feathers.
" This can’t be!" Yusuke hissed. " You weren’t even AT my apartment! Why the Hell are you in this?!"
The familiar figure cocked his head to one side and curiously began poking at Yusuke.
" Karasu!"
" Who? I’m the Dodo, my good man." The Karasu-like person replied.
" At least we can finally agree on something," Yusuke smiled.
" You’re soaked. You poor thing," Karasu...er...Dodo observed, a concerned look in his eyes. He patted Yusuke on the head. " I hate when poor defenseless animals turn into drowned rats. I got the perfect idea! Play a game with me! It will dry you off quickly."
" Ga....game? What?"
" I challenge you to a Caucus Race!"
Yusuke cocked his head to one side. " I didn’t get to that chapter yet."
Dodo Karasu smiled {can you tell?} and placed a hand to his own cheek. " Oh, you’re new to the area. Come, I will teach you."
" What is a Caucus Race, Karas.....uhm...Dodo?"
" Simple!" He beamed. " Run!"
" Where?"
" Anywhere!"
" When?"
" NOW!"
Yusuke had no clue what importance this might serve, but did as he wa told, running laped around a small patch of trees with the "Dodo" doing the same. They ran this way in no particular direction, but kept going. He figured Dodo Karasu would tell him to stop when it was over. But, as time went on, he wondered if the stop would ever come.
Finally exhausted from the running, Yusuke dropped into a heep on the grass. He leaned against a tree and huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath. Dodo Karasu skipped next to him and sat down.
" So, I guess I lost?" Yusuke asked, trying to catch his breath. His chest hurt from the effort.
" No."
" I won?"
" No."
" Then what?"
" A Caucus Race has no start and no end. So no one can win or lose."
" Kudaran!" Yusuke shouted before falling backwards to catch his breath again. Dodo Karasu stroked Yusuke’s head as though he were some fluffy animal.
" No, it’s not. It’s a lot of fun and very fair. No one gets disappointed about the outcome. We are all winners, but no one is better than anyone else. And there are no losers, so no one gets unhappy. Everyone leaves happy after a Caucus Race!"
" If...you say so." Yusuke sighed with a pant. He had no energy to argue. " So...now what?"
" You’re dry."
" Now I’m sweaty and thirsty and tired."
" I can throw you back in the ocean and we can start over?" Dodo Karasu suggested.
" No!" Yusuke jolted up. " Y’know, you’ve been most helpful! But, I really gotta go!" It was obvious the excuses had little solidity behind them.
" Oh," Dodo Karasu looked very unahppy. " Must you go? I’ve so begun to love your company. I don’t have many friends, y’know. Any that do happen by never stay long."
" I wonder why....er...I mean....." Yusuke thought of a cover-up. " Yer such a fun guy!"
" Will you come back soon? We can have another Caucus Race?"
" Oh," Yusuke looked around but finally answered with a fib. " Yes. Of course, Kar....er...Dodo. I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I’ll see you around you......pal....you."
Dodo Karasu clapped his hands happily. " Oh, thank you! You’ve made me very happy!"
Yusuke caught his breath and stood up, peering down at Dodo Karasu and finally casting a semi-genuine smile. How amusing this was. " By any chance, did you see a White Rabbit in a pink suit come by here?"
" Eh?" Dodo Karasu thought. " Yes, he headed down that way, through the woods."
" Thanks," and with that, Yusuke jogged into the woods, leaving the Dodo behind. " This is one strange place." He said to himself.
