Bright hazel eyes searched strategically between the cardboard signs held up with various names on it. She was at the airport, freshly landed, and the sign finally popped up with her name scribbled over it: Yukimura Katsumi. The handwriting had to be Yusuke's, because Keiko's was very elegant. It had to be, she was a prestigious teacher after all, and Katsumi had never met a teacher with chicken-scratch handwriting.
A small frown lined her lips to just see a driver, and Katsumi nudged through the throng of people to reach him. He wore the standard black suit and hat, a crisp smile on his face and bold, almost black brown eyes. It must have meant her father sent a driver with Keiko and her idiot of a fiancé to pick her up. She was hoping to see Mr. Yukio, their family driver, who she knew since she was a kid. He must have retired, she thought. A small wave of goosebumps trailed down her arms and her stomach flittered with butterflies. It has been years since she came back to Japan, and she felt completely out of her element.
"You must be Ms. Katsumi. I am Mr. Yukimura's driver Mr. Atsuki. Your friends wait for you in the car." Katsumi smiled, and did not even realize he had already retrieved her bags for her. It was a weird feeling she felt, as if she were in a dream, time obeyed her commands, and not the other way around. He glanced at her, waiting for an answer, and she flushed with embarrassment from finally realizing it.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for getting my bags for me. I do not know where my manners are, I just assumed to see Mr. Yukio."
A small sullen look flashed over his face before taking a breath to answer her, his free hand placing a sincere comfort on her shoulder.
"Mr. Yukio passed away a few months back, I am sorry to be the one to inform you, Ms. Yukimura, but I do think we need to be making our way."
Katsumi's eyes brimmed with tears before she nodded and blinked them back. He was, in her family's eyes, a part of the family for them even if he did work for them. Crossing her arms uncomfortably over her chest, she followed Mr. Atsuki to the exit where a black town car was awaiting them. Bursting out of the door was Keiko, and slammed face first into Katsumi before she could even stretch her arms out to break her fall.
"Oh my Kami, Kat! It's been way too long. I have missed your letters, but I am glad at least we had each other's blogs to see for updates. How are you? How is Mittens? Did you and that-"
"Jeeze, Keiko, give her time to catch her breath. You literally just knocked the wind out of her." Yusuke mumbled, stepping out on the other side of the car. After Keiko lent a hand to help Katsumi rise to her feet, she immediately brushed her black hair from her face. My back is going to be killing me, Katsumi thought, but was overjoyed to have her favorite cousin back… face to face.
"Keiko, we will just need a girl's night, and no, Yusuke, that does not include you!" She teased, sticking out her tongue at him. He was just as she remembered, but maybe taller... and his face held a stronger and more mature grace about it. But she could see the little boy she used to know in the glint of his brown eyes.
"Oh yes, because a girl's night sounds like so much fun to be a part of." Yusuke snorted before pulling Katsumi into a hug. She smiled widely, almost cheekily. Mr. Atsuki gazed at the adults, it was clear they had known each other since they were little kids, and he was almost envious that he wasn't around to have witnessed it.
"Pfft, you're just mad because you won't get me to paint your nails!" She teased, and Keiko laughed in response. Just as they were all gathered into the vehicle, and Katsumi clicking her seatbelt into place, she realized something.
"You said Mittens! Mr. Atsuki, you got Mittens right?" Yusuke rolled his eyes before Keiko elbowed him in the gut on instinct. Kat and Mr. Atsuki glanced over to them with a raised brow at his sudden pained yelp.
"Yes, instead of riding with us, they had him directly escorted to the house."
"I forget how… well off Uncle Hisao is," Keiko laughed nervously, glancing at Kat. The girl smiled in return before leaning into her older cousin. She looked up to Keiko a lot, despite only being a year older. She was always a reinforcing hand, but she had to be, she was going to be married to that one, Kat thought, glancing at Keiko's hand.
"So… when were you going to tell me "the jerk" was going to be officially apart of the family…" Her eyes flared with a teasing glitter, Keiko laughing nervously in embarrassment. She was surprised Yusuke hadn't retorted, but he had taken to looking out the window, completely distracted. A worried look settled within Keiko before turning back to her cousin.
"Well, to be honest, I was going to tell you when I planned to ask for you to be my Maid of Honor."
"Maid of Honor!? Oh my, what an honor indeed," she squealed almost instantly but then a panic fled over her whole body.
"You do realize what the job duties of the Maid of Honor are, right Keiko?" As much as she was swelled with pride to be even considered a bridesmaid for how long they have been apart, she had never planned anything or done duties similar to what a Maid of Honor does.
"You'll have the other bridesmaids, and myself, and my mother to help. Don't stress it!"
Katsumi smiled, placing her hand into Keiko's. The airport was an hour away from the Yukimura's diner, and just another half hour away from her family's estates. Though were was a drastic change in financial status between the two Yukimura brothers, it never influenced the family in any shape. They were all there for one another, whether it be financially, emotionally, or just for a good laugh. It's the one thing she truly missed about her family.
Unpacking was the worst, Katsumi thought, as she tore into box after box. It has been a week since her arrival. Keiko was quick to introduce her to everyone, and it made Katsumi swell up with embarrassment. It meant a lot that her cousin thought so dearly of her. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she turned around at her fat orange cat named Mittens who mewed at her as if he was 2months old and needing his Momma.
"Mittens, I just fed you and loved on you, Momma is busy trying to get this apartment together." Another stubborn mew escaped his lips before he found himself inside one of the opened and unpacked boxes. Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on her hips and gazed around. It wasn't a small apartment, and it was not in a bad neighborhood, but she felt proud for her achievements. Finally receiving her nursing degree, it was easy for her to come home and find a job at the local hospital. She had thought about becoming a doctor, but Kat really didn't want to spend almost a decade in additional schooling. Maybe one day she will become specialized in an area, but for now, she was doing a rotation at Yukamto General Hospital in the pediatrics department.
Though she knew her parent's wanted her to someday take over their business when they retire, it was far from her own dream… Maybe someday she could make it a side interest, but with a partner she trusted to handle all the really important business aspects. She had the whole people-part down, she was a nurse after all!
A buzzing in her pocket broke her from her thoughts, and she reached into her favorite pair of hip hugging jeans and pulled out the cellphone.
"Hey Keiko, what's going on?" Kat nodded and nodded again before replying to the girl who was speaking into her ear a mile a minute.
"I'm just unpacking-" The girl rolled her eyes in almost agitation. "Yes, I can pack by myself! I just want to… unwind before anyone comes over here. To get things situated…"
A loud noise broke in her living room, and she cursed loudly in shock, her soul feeling about ready to jump out of her body from the surprise.
"Keiko, I have to let you go, I think Mittens just knocked over something of mine…" But Katsumi's eyes trailed to Mittens, who just hopped out of the abandoned box to examine the noise.
"Oh what the fuck, Keiko… call the cops or something. Someone- What the fuck is that!" Katsumi yelled, the fear escalating her vocabulary, indicating Yusuke had a huge effect on her choice of words after all these years.
He… It, barely fit through the door. Long talons the size of two of her fingers put together clutched on the door frame. The skin was scaly, and angry, harsh yellow eyes bore after her. Katsumi instantly froze, the blood flooding from her face and a lump filling in her stomach. She couldn't move. All she could hear was her heartbeat warning her in the back of her throat to do anything.
"Ah…" He spoke, sharp fangs revealing into a gnarly smile. "I like them better when they are filled with fear." The perversion which lingered on the back of his words like a parasite made a twitch in her temple. Anger started to flood through her like a broken damn.
"What the fuck do you think an ugly Barney dinosaur is doing in my goddamn new apartment?!" He looked confused at first by her comment, but understood it as an insult, ducking his head to enter her room with a snarl on his lips. This had to be a joke, right? Her inner spirit flailed around, bantering at her as she tried to process this.
"You will be tasty, I can tell." He laughed mockingly, and just as Katsumi turned to call, her brown hair whipping behind her, he caught her arm and pulled her to him before his fangs leaned down close to her….
"NOOOOO!" She screamed, lurching forward from the bed, sweat covering her body in a slick coat. Her hair fell in sweaty tendrils around her and hands instantly swept it away from her face. Her tank top was soaked as she glanced around the dark room. Her still packed boxes stacked all along the bare wall, untouched except for her necessities.
"Kami, is this a sign I need to start unpacking?" She wailed between available breaths, her heart going off like a machine gun.
Disclaimers: I do not own any Yu Yu Hakusho characters, unfortunately, they are the work of a GOD. Haha ;P.
A/N: Let me know what you think! This story is a last minute inspiration, and I was surprised I typed 6 pages of words so fast. Please be civil in your reviews... I am trying to get the hang of writing again. Been inspired by a couple of writers here on Fanfic to give it a go again. x0x0 - Holding Onto Faith
EDIT: Beginning to edit the chapters that are already posted before I post the next chapter, chapter 10.