Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters.
Dirty Little Secret
Prologue: As a Friend
I had never felt so scared before. Not when I was caught in a spider demon's web. Not at the Dark Tournament, even at the sight of all those raging, bloodthirsty demons. Not even when Hiei threatened to slit my throat if I told his sister, Yukina, the truth about their relationship. No, I had never been so scared up until this point.
Koenma-sama just contacted me, saying there had been an accident. I asked him if anyone had gotten hurt. He told me indeed someone had gotten hurt, and they were unconscious. He told me to hurry and get to the scene, so I could see for myself. And now here I am, soaring through the brisk wind at top speed to get there. I asked for the name of who was hurt, and when I heard it my heart swelled with fear and dread.
Yusuke-kun.
I had to hurry and make sure he was ok. Koenma-sama said he should be fine, but I'm still so worried. What could've happened to Yusuke-kun? He's so strong that I find it hard to imagine someone had hurt him badly enough to knock him out.
I glanced down and see Koenma-sama in his Human World form, along with a few other people. I swooped down and land on my feet, allowing the oar to disappear. I rushed over to Koenma-sama's side. I peered over his shoulder and I immediately felt tears coming to my eyes.
Yusuke-kun was lying on his back, his eyes tightly shut. He was lying here, less than one hundred feet from Sarayashiki High School, his whole body limp. He was as motionless as a corpse and underneath his head a small pool of blood had accumulated.
"What happened?" I asked, choking back my tears.
"Yusuke apparently rubbed another student the wrong way," began Koenma-sama, who was staring down at the unconscious Yusuke-kun, "and he was enraged. The student came at Yusuke, wanting a fight. Yusuke easily triumphed over the student but then one of his friends came from behind and struck a heavy blow to the back of his head with a metal baseball bat."
"Koenma-sama, how do you know all this?" I was in complete awe how Koenma-sama could know the exact course of events. Koenma-sama was wise but I doubt he saw this coming.
"Because I told him! I saw it all!" wailed a female voice. I looked across from me to see a brown-haired girl with tears streaming down her face. In her eyes was a mixture of guilt and sadness as more tears leaked from them.
Keiko-chan, Yusuke's girlfriend. That last part irked me a bit. I'm not trying to say that I don't like Keiko-chan, because I do; we're pretty much best friends. It's just that . . . she had something I wanted. Something that I had desired for quite some time deep within the pits of my essence. She was so lucky. She had what I yearned for so badly.
"Yusuke!" she cried out, burying her face in her hands. "It's all my fault!"
"Calm down, Keiko," said a male voice. "It'll be ok." I then saw a man with red hair (actually, more like orange) standing across from Koenma-sama and I. He looked down at Yusuke-kun. "Urameshi's been through worse. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Kazuma Kuwabara-kun. I also saw near him his elder sister, Shizuru Kuwabara-san. She glanced down at Yusuke-kun and her expression was indifferent. She took out a cigarette and a lighter, sticking the deadly product between her lips and lighting it. I really don't approve of her smoking, since I happen to know for a fact it can take more than ten years off your life, but I can't exactly force her to quit. A faint groaning noise is heard.
I gasped and looked down. Slowly, Yusuke-kun's eyes blink open. He sat up, his hand clinging to the back of his head. "Ow . . . my head," he winced, biting his lip in pain. He brought his hand back and glanced at it, looking queasy at the sight of his own blood painted on his palm.
"Yusuke!" rejoiced Keiko-chan, dropping to her knees. She wrapped her arms around Yusuke and pulled him close, tears of joy shedding profusely. "You're ok!"
I thought it was so sweet–even picture perfect the way Keiko-chan swooped down and embraced her lover. But something troubled me. Yusuke-kun's reaction didn't seem fit. He should be smiling and holding her back with a pleasant look in his eyes. But there is none. He doesn't hug her back but rather tenses up. He did not look pleased at the fact Keiko-chan was hugging him. He looked confused and embarrassed as his eyes grew large and his cheeks went pink.
He scrambled away from Keiko-chan, eyeing her very skeptically. Keiko-chan looked at him with perplexed brown eyes, which were now red-rimmed from her crying. "Yusuke, what is it?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"Yusuke . . . is that who I am?" he said in a low voice.
My jaw dropped. No, it couldn't be! Did that blow to the head really do what I think it did? Oh please let this be another one of Yusuke-kun's infamous jokes. Yes. He must be pretending to forget who he is, only to spring up and yell, "Surprise! You guys are so gullible!" But he doesn't.
"Who are you?" His whole body was trembling. He looked at us all with that deer-in-the-headlights look, widened pupils full of paranoia.
"Stop clowning around, Urameshi!" snapped Kuwabara-kun. "You always do stupid jokes like this so you can knock it off!"
Yusuke-kun blinked. "Do what? And who's Urameshi?"
Shizuru-san sighed. "Looks like that blow with the bat did more than bust up his head," she commented, puffing on her cigarette.
"What do you mean?" asked Koenma-sama, puzzled by Yusuke-kun's strange behavior.
"I mean the kid's got amnesia."
Everyone was in shock. Amnesia? Did that mean Yusuke-kun didn't remember any of us? Or even who he was?
Koenma walked up to Yusuke-kun. Yusuke-kun was clearly not himself, for he began to cower as Koenma drew closer, something Yusuke-kun would not normally do no matter how intimidating the person before him was.
"Tell me, do you remember anything?" asked Koenma-sama. "Anything at all?"
Yusuke-kun shook his head. "Not even my name."
"Don't be ridiculous!" snapped Keiko-chan, her voice sounding more desperate than angry. Her face stricken with frustration as she stared hard at him, her eyes welled up with tears. "You're Yusuke Urameshi! Who else would you be?"
Yusuke-kun looked at Keiko-chan with sad brown eyes, with a look that melted my heart. Just looking at his expression made me want to cry. He had the look of a wounded puppy and (what can I say) I'm a sucker for that look.
"I'm sorry," he said, sounding very sincere, "but I don't know any of you people."
Koenma-sama fiddled with his pacifier. "Well, in the meantime, I think we should take care of what happened to your head. Botan."
"Yes, Koenma-sama?" I rushed over to his side.
"Fix Yusuke up, would you?"
I nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir!" I got to my knees and looked Yusuke-kun in the eyes. I placed my hands on both of his cheeks. I didn't blush, but Yusuke-kun did, probably because he doesn't remember me and would be embarrassed at such contact, just like with Keiko-chan's embrace. I concentrated my energy and started to mend the wound in the back of his head.
"What's going on?" he said, glancing up at Koenma.
"Spirit healing. You've got a huge injury in the back of your head so Botan is healing you," explained the ruler, still contemplating what to do about the situation.
"Yusuke really doesn't remember . . . me at all?" Keiko-chan seemed the most heartbroken by Yusuke-kun's amnesia. And I don't blame her. He was the love of her life and he didn't even remember her or anything about their love. How tragically awful.
After I finished closing up Yusuke-kun's wound, I placed my hands to the side and looked him in the eyes. "Are you feeling ok, Yusuke-kun?"
He stared at me and, hesitantly, nodded.
"Thank you . . . Botan, was it?" he said.
I nodded my head and smiled brightly.
"Yes," I said, still wearing that smile. "And you are Yusuke-kun."
"Yusuke?" he repeated.
I nodded and rose to my feet. "What shall we do, Koenma-sama?" I asked. Yusuke-kun had no idea who he was or who we were. Koenma-sama took a great while before he answered me.
"I wish there were some quick method or gadget to restore his memory," he said glumly. "However, we have no access to that kind of technology. The best thing we can do is send him to a rehabilitation center here in Human World."
"Rehab? Isn't that for druggies, alcoholics, and smokers?" asked Kuwabara-kun. After receiving a glare from his sister, he shivered a bit and mumbled an apology to her.
"No," said Keiko-chan, her voice still very frail. "Rehabilitation clinics can be used for other types of diseases or ailments, including amnesia. They help restore the patient's memory overtime." She turned to Koenma-sama. Her bloodshot brown eyes were pleading. "How long will he have to go?"
"I hate using clichés, but only time will tell," said Koenma-sama feasibly.
"In other words, he's got no idea how long until he's gonna be ok . . ." muttered Shizuru-san to herself, her tone rather morbid.
So no one knew how long Yusuke-kun was going to be in rehab. I only stared at the confused teenager as he sat there mumbling nonsense to himself. He would beat this. He would be the same old Yusuke-kun. I just know it. He'll remember me, and Kuwabara-kun, Spirit World, Hiei-kun, Kurama-kun, Shizuru-san, Koenma-sama–everyone! . . . Including Keiko-chan.
I totally approved of Keiko and Yusuke, but I couldn't help but feel . . . jealous. I think my attraction started when Yusuke-kun crossed over as a ghost. He was so silly and immature, yet so devilishly handsome. I knew he cared for me since he was always so worried when I was in danger. I knew that he cared very much about me. I knew that he enjoyed my company. I knew that he liked talking to me. I knew that he loved me.
As a friend.
