A Little Different
A Yu Yu Hakusho Alternate Universe
Chapter I: The Walls Crumble
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing. Not even the excerpt, duh.
Author's Note: I finally have that alternate universe fic up! Erm, this will be short but I have FMA fics that will not leave me alone until I write them. I swear. :rolls eyes:
Warning: Contains hints of KuramaxEveryone (or EveryonexKurama, but his height secures most pairings with him being the seme). Most obvious will be KuramaxYusukexHiei. Also, there is an abundance of swearing.
Throb.
Gentle, though it may be, the pulsing in his brain was that of grave annoyance and foreboding. Especially if this head ache had managed to persist for over a month. No one knew except Hiei, who he confided with about certain things. Granted, his ailments were not one of the usual topics of discussion, but never the less it had come up. Of course, it was said once and left to hang in the air. The demon was probably probing his health and mannerisms to make sure he was all right. That was a comfort, if nothing else. Kurama tapped his pencil on the desk. Assignments had been finished in advance while he was still just barely feeling the pain. He was in the throws of the mysterious illness a week before, wincing at the whisper of wind. His companions and family didn't seem to notice, neither did his co-workers and close friends, for that matter. It troubled him as much as it eased him. Was he such a talented liar now?
Sleep could not claim him, not so early in the evening. A pity. Kurama would do anything to remember the feeling of having a clear head for even a brief moment. He groaned and uncharacteristically flopped onto his bed, his skin blanched. Koenma would know, most likely. It was such undeniable guilt and egoism that prevented him from striding into the little king's office and having a private conference. Then again, this would alert Yusuke and the others to his condition and the concern itself would drown him. Besides, he convinced himself, he wasn't up to speaking to Koenma. No need to bother him, right? Of course. So he lay there, eye brows drawn together in a small frown.
Maybe this was a revenge coming full circle. He may very well die. Kurama ran through the enemies of the past hundred or so decades, most of them dead. At least, that was what Yomi reported. He could trust his former partner to a certain degree, however. Yomi wouldn't lie about such things unless he wished for Kurama to turn against him as an advisor. Though, the threat of his parent's lives could have been a safety net for the blind demon. Kurama rolled on to his side, hands tightening around the pillow. How could he trust anyone, now? In this state?
"Niisan?"
Kurama lifted his head from the pillow. "Oh, Shuichi. Please, come in," he sat up and patted a place beside him. His step brother tip-toed in, clutching an English and French books and pencil. He smiled at his older brother and sat cross-legged on the blankets. "Do you need help with your homework again?" he asked, chuckling.
"Ah . . . yes," Shuichi blushed. "Sorry, niisan. I peeked first to see if you are busy." Kurama nodded and went over to the table to pick up his glasses. He had gotten an eye check up as was mandatory and discovered that his right eye saw things better than his left. He couldn't walk around with a monocle, obviously, so he chose a small, square-rimmed frame and submitted himself to the glasses. If he had any demon pride left, it was all concentrated in his silent loathing for those glasses.
"So, what are you stuck on?" Shuiichi asked.
"Umm, I don't understand this whole text," the boy said in a sheepish tone.
Shuiichi laughed. "There's no need to be embarrassed. English is a bit tricky to learn, and the French?"
"Well, I can read most of it, but I can't answer the questions because I lost my dictionary. Maybe you can help me with the grammar?"
"Of course. First, of all, let's tackle the English, alright? I'll read it and then you relay it to me. How's that sound?" He flipped the book to the cover. "The Hobbit?" he read aloud. "Did the teacher assign this to you? It's a bit of a difficult read, you know?"
"Yeah," Shuichi grimaced. "But I'm going to be really smart, just like you!"
"Like me?" He blinked. Flipping to where the page was bookmarked, he read aloud. " 'When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. No one was anywhere near him. Just imagine his fright! He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone floor . . . ' "
His brother glanced at him curiously after he hadn't spoke in a while. "Niisan?"
"What? Oh, I'm sorry," Kurama smiled to reassure his brother and continued. " 'Very slowly he got up and groped about on all fours, till he could touch the walls of the tunnel; but neither up nor down it could he find anything: nothing at all, no sign of goblins, no sign of dwarves . . . ' " He read the two chapters for his brother. It had been a while since he had read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy that followed it. But the beginning paragraph gripped him. More symbolism. It happened all the time. That even more forbidding feeling crept through his spine and shoulders, making him forget the headache.
While he read, Hiei sat on the branch, watching them both and listening to the story. Even if he didn't understand what was going on or what a 'hobbit' was or who this 'Gandalf' was, he envisioned the story anyways. Intriguing. The Jaganshi shook his head, a half-smile on his face. Human sentimentality. They will never let go of me, will they? He thought. Still, Kurama had a wonderful voice. He portrayed each character with their own charm and quirks. He even did the British accent very well.
"He does a better Osakan," Yusuke observed from a branch higher than him. As if the smart ass had read his thoughts.
Hiei didn't look up, but instead gave a low snort. "Why are you here, Detective?"
"I'm relieving you from Kurama stalking," he replied. A smirk plastered his face as he swayed on the tree limb. His swift movements that served as his mannerisms when he spoke were both deliberate and random. Like his fighting style and practically everything about him.
"I do not stalk Kurama," the demon said evenly.
"Of course ya don't," Yusuke replied. There was plain disbelief in his voice, along with a teasing tone. "You just walk whenever Kurama walks, stops when he stops, and appear wherever he is. If you're not stalking him, you're following him around with your tongue hanging out of your mouth."
The Jaganshi remained unmoved but Yusuke could tell he'd struck a cord. "I can't decide whether to kill or torture you for that implication," he said in the same monotonous voice.
"Well, don't rush yourself with the decision," the detective said, his hands behind his head looking perfectly at ease.
The sun set slowly as the two sat and observed the red-haired vision. His hair the same luxurious red it had always been and his eyes the same lime candy. A sweet rose forever preserved in its porcelain shell, destined to hold until death. The sun captured that same loveliness of his petals.
Yusuke chuckled. "I can see why you stalk him so much." It slipped from his mouth as easily as if it were water from a fall. Somehow, he felt no need to take it back, which was odd. He was not as shameless as many people believed him to be.
"Hn."
Kurama sent Shuichi off. "Well, it's all done now. If you want, you may look over it," he said.
"Thanks so much, oniisama!" the stepbrother said excitedly. "I'll try to do it on my own, next time."
"No, it's all right," Shuiichi said, waving his hands. "Really, if you feel that you can't handle things on your own, you should ask for help. Remember, there are always people who will gladly share your pain and work to ease it."
Shuichi's wide grin flashed as he disappeared through the door and danced down the halls into his room. Kurama sat and stared at where his brother had sprung out. The sound of the shower turning on. The ruffling of clothes. A towel. Newspapers rustling and small talk in the den. Probably mother and father. He listened to himself tell his brother that 'no man is an island'.
"I'm such a hypocrite," he sighed. "I preach what I cannot bring myself to do. Does sharing what hurts you heal your wounds to leave more with another?" He told his brother something that, if he had been in Kurama's state, would enrage him. If someone had told him so at this moment, he'd have felt the need to strike the man.
"I need to go and think."
Kurama climbed to the roof top. He observed the ashen sky, comforted by its aura of darkness. The stars went unseen under the blanket of night and their absence made the evening even more sensual than many that he'd ever seen in his long life. No moon, even. Today was supposed to be a near full one and yet the black swallowed it whole. The wolves of midnight devouring the landscape. The light seeks out darkness, and darkness will be forever wed to white. Because they can't survive. He opened his palm as a milky ball formed itself the tips of his fingers. He caressed the strobe of light with his long fingers. Delight peeked through the barrier that hid his emotions from his most readable part, his face. The beautiful but hard face that reflected his interest of the people around him.
"Boy!" a gruff voice called. "Get to bed!" Pounding steps to the platform and then to the ladder. The thief clenched his fist and the sphere's liquid form squirted from his fingers and splashing over the tiles, causing tiny bellflowers to sprout between the cracks, even if they could not root. "Boy!"
"Oh, go fuck yourself!" Kurama called back. "Old man, don't piss me off."
The old man's head smashed through the board covering the opening to the roof. "That's scary, demon boy. But you're weak and bound to this world. You can listen to me or my fists." He looked like he could pulp the lanky teen, only his head with its crew cut hair could fit, much less his broad, muscled shoulders.
"Please, that's a threat?" the red-head asked, ignoring the man. "Where'd you learn that one? In a fifties magazine? Bugs Bunny?" he sneered. He stretched his legs out farther. Why bother. The man rambled on for a good ten minutes, as he always did. He closed his ears. What was Hiei up to? Maybe the turf war between him, Urameshi and the Kuwabaras had ended while the old man rambled on and on. For certain, he could sit there and stare at the magical place where
"Listen to your father, you damned murderer!" the man roared.
"Katsuya, really, you think that works anymore?" he mocked. "Sorry 'Pops' but now that Mom's dead, I can kill you at any time." His mouth barred fangs that were too long for any human to hold.
"But you won't," Katsuya replied, a growing smirk on his face. "Because then Koenma will have a reason to snatch you up again. And murder of a reikai tantei, no less. What would the Spirit World court say to that? Not a lawyer in Makai would defend your case."
He shot a sharp look at the man. "Perhaps, but what makes you think they can catch me?"
Hiei and Yusuke stared through the leaves. Speechless by what they had seen displayed by the mild-mannered fox demon. "Hiei, what the hell is going on?"
"Hn."
To be Continued!
Ahh, this is so cliché and short, I can barely stand it. Blame Lestat for my troubles. Damn you, Lestat and Louis! DAMN YOU!
:cough: Now that I'm done my raving, I can properly say this will need a lot of support to keep it going because of three things.
1) I have no more new YYH DVDs and I have scoured every feasible place I can look for Yu Yu Hakusho Eizou and have yet to find it.
1.5) I just discovered Hunter x Hunter in my local library and will stop at nothing to collect 'em all. How does this tie in with 1)? Uhhh . . . they're both Togashi-ations! Yes, I know that sounds weird. My brain sucks because it's still wrapping itself around FMA. This leads us to #2!
2) I have been bitten by what was aptly named the Hagaren bug. RoyEd has become top priority nowadays and reminds me of a quirky version of KuraxYuu.
3) All my creative energy has been sucked by some vampires name Stephen King, Edward Elric, Zelia Theb, and Anne Rice. I couldn't be happier.