Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
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Jin pulled his legs up off the ground and caught his ki in the wind circling him. There! He shouldn't be able to sense me now… He grinned impishly. Touya was just standing in the yard, not doing anything, seemingly enjoying the sunlight. Perfect!
He slowly drifted up to him, being careful to stay behind the hyper-aware Ice Master. Cautiously, Jin reached out, then stopped. One… two… three… now! He abruptly brought his hands down over Touya's eyes. "Gue—" Touya grabbed Jin's wrists and threw him forward. Jin slammed into the newly frozen ground, which effectively knocked him breathless. He felt the beginning of an ice spire grow into his back before he heard Touya gasp in recognition.
"Jin…I'm sorry…" He hastily pulled the rather shocked shinobi to his feet. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "If I hadn't recognized you I, I would have… killed you. I'm sorry." He still hadn't released Jin's wrist.
"S'okay. Guess I shouldn't have snuck up on ya like that, huh? But didn't anyone do that to you when you were a kid?" Jin crossed his legs, one hand resting on his ankles, the other held in front of him. Touya's touch was cold, but not unpleasant.
"I've never told you why I became a shinobi." Touya suddenly seemed to find the ground between his feet very interesting. "… Would you like to know?" The question was so soft, so hesitant, that Jin wasn't sure Touya had spoken at all. He answered nonetheless.
"Sure!" But Jin's usual exuberance seemed somehow out of place. Touya, usually so stoic, looked almost sad.
"Until I met Sensei, I had little to no control over my power. When I walked into a room, the temperature dropped twenty, sometimes thirty degrees. That might have endeared me to some, if I hadn't lived in a constantly frozen tundra. My parents abandoned me, for fear of freezing to death, I assume. Everyone looked at me so guiltily, it was impossible to tell who my parents were. They all seemed to feel responsible for the spawning of the monster.
"They banished me, eventually. I had reached full maturity, and whatever obligation they may have had to take care of me ended then." Touya sat down slowly, unconsciously pulling Jin down with him. "I wandered aimlessly for… perhaps a decade, trying only to survive. It was then that I met Sensei.
"He was old, dying, and looking for a successor. I had stumbled, weak and starving, upon the man who would change my life." Touya suddenly looked at his hand, as if noticing for the first time that it was wrapped around Jin's wrist. He stared at it for a moment, before deciding it was fine where it was. "He took me in and showed me the way of the Ice Master. He taught me everything I know, but nowhere near everything he did.
"He was killed in his sleep by a group of bandits. By the time I awoke, he was already dead. I murdered the bandits and destroyed a large portion of our small home in the process.
"I had nothing left. I had no home to return to, and the only person who had ever cared about me was gone.
"Alone and desolate, with emptiness in my heart and blood on my hands, the shinobi found me. I was a hollow shell of my former self. I had been happy with Sensei. That happiness was as dead as he was. The shinobi leader saw that and exploited it." Touya traced a pattern in the grass with his free hand. Jin was uncharacteristically silent, sitting calmly despite the energy burning through him.
"I became an exemplary shinobi. I followed orders without question. I lived for the darkness. Until, that is, an unexpected ray of light blew into my life." Touya looked at Jin, and almost smiled. "You should know the rest of the story." He stood, unwillingly releasing Jin's hand. Jin popped to his feet with him. Touya turned to walk into the house when Jin, a bit cautiously, grabbed his arm. "Yes?" Touya didn't turn, the distance in his voice returning.
"…Where're ya goin'?" It wasn't the question Jin had meant to ask, not at all, but the original question suddenly seemed too intrusive.
"Inside." Touya shook off the Wind Master's hand and continued walking.
Jin unexpectedly felt the ground beneath his feet and realized he'd stopped hovering. Am I… the ray of light?
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Why did I tell him that? It isn't any of his business, so why did I tell him? Touya frowned out his window, stare fixed on the dazed Jin. He was standing where Touya had left him, under a large oak tree. His feet, shockingly enough, were actually touching the grass. Either he's surprised or depressed. Whichever it is, I'm sure he'll get over it soon. Of course he will. He's Jin.
But Touya couldn't shake the sense of responsibility he felt for Jin's drooping ears.
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So whadja think? Huh? Huh? Did you like it? This is meant to be a two-shot, but it might end up being longer. Please review! ChiCho out.