Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho nor do I make any money from this piece of fanfiction.
AN: A penta-drabble profile, if you will, of Kuwabara Kazuma. Often forgotten and belittled by fic writers, including myself, for quite some time. But really, he is a rather unique character within the YYH universe. So here is my ode to Kuwabara, the eternal odd man out of Team Urameshi.
Belong
He did not belong.
This he knew for as long as he could remember.
The first time he saw them was at six years old. A stray cat had followed him home, sickly and hungry. He had taken it in, fed it, but it was too little too late. The cat died in his home that very night, and to his surprise, he could see the ferry girl that came to fetch the grateful cat spirit. It mewled its thanks to the small boy as it went off to whatever cat heaven it was destined for.
That was only the beginning.
Shortly after, he began seeing all sorts of spirits and youkai. He started talking to ghosts of bound spirits, helping a few move on. He spoke of this to no one, save his sister Shizuru who had spoken to him that very night about his spirit awareness. She knew exactly what he had seen that night.
Then he volunteered to be a Reikai Tantei.
Even there, he did not belong.
Urameshi Yuusuke was bound to it as a result of his resurrection; Kurama and Hiei were forced into it as part of their parole for stealing the three Reikai treasures. He was the lone volunteer, the one who was there with no obligations. Of the four, he was considered the slow one, the stupid one, the weak one.
He was always the odd man out.
Koenma knew this. He had sent the others on solo missions before, quick wanted alive or dead missions. If nothing else, Koenma always made sure the Tantei he sent could counter the target. Speed? Hiei. Stealth? Kurama. Just get the job done? Yuusuke. But never him. Never Kuwabara Kazuma.
After Yuusuke's second death and resurrection, he found he belonged even less. The Three Lords of the Makai were looking for allies in a bid to take over the entire realm and had recruited three of the Reikai Tantei. He never got contacted. But then who would? Who would want someone on their side that would live for no more than another seventy years? Eighty, if he was lucky. Who would want to deal with a frail human on their side?
Even in his family now, he was still the odd man out.
He married Yukina, the beautiful Koorime, and they had had three children together. But he knew that his children would outlive him by centuries, and Yukina herself would outlive them all by many, many more. He alone would be the one to leave them first. He alone would be the one to age. It was by virtue of a well maintained glamour that Yukina would appear to age with him, for the sake of appearances to the outside world.
He would forever be a bridge between worlds.
He would live in one, work for another, have ties to a third, but he would never truly belong in any of them.
For he was a human that could see spirits, not a youkai.
~ End
AN: I may continue this into a full-blown series of penta-drabble profiles for the other three members of Team Urameshi. But for now, this will be a one-shot.