Shuichi Minamino's Day Off
Disclaimer: If I do really well on my finals, do you think they'll let me own Yu Yu Hakusho?
Rating: PG, for some language and because Karasu is in here briefly and that bastard is too damn scary for small children, teenagers, and fox-demons.
Pairings: Mild Kurama x Hiei, and a brief mention of Karasu x Kurama…though that is definitely one-sided. Grrr…damn that Karasu…
Summary: Kurama's stuck in bed with the flu, but like hell is he going to get the much-needed rest he deserves, what with constant visitors. One thing's for sure, there sure isn't going to be any joyriding or German Pride parades in this fic!
Notes: Though this is my first foray into Yu Yu Hakusho, I'm confident in my abilities. I promise I'm not going to make you want to jab the nearest Spirit Sword into your computer screen.
++
"Good morning all you demons out there! This is your favorite rock jock Juri, back from refereeing at this year's Dark Tournament, and I'll tell you, I'm glad to be away from all of those explosions! If you're going up to the Human World to torment the living, it's currently fifty-five degrees and partly cloudy, but the forecast today calls for full sun and a high in the low eighties. Just watch out for those pesky Spirit Detectives! Checking Demon World forecasts…"
There were very few radios that could actually receive signals from Demon World stations, and the one beside Shuichi Minamino's bed was one of them. The young man's hand darted out from underneath the blankets, tapping the alarm off before going back to sleep. In the two seconds that he'd been conscious, Shuichi had decided that he was too sick to go to school today…not that he even really needed to be there in the first place; he was a genius after all.
"Shuichi! Shuichi, are you up yet?"
He groaned, burying his head under his pillows. He loved his mother dearly, but at this point all redheaded Shuichi wanted was to be left alone to sleep as if dead. Shiori Minamino wouldn't have this, though. He could hear his mother coming up the stairs, opening the creaky door and standing there, staring at him.
"Shuichi, why aren't you up? You'll be late for school! Come on now, Shuichi!"
He poked his head out from underneath the covers, blinking blearily. His normally rosy skin had taken on a sallow pallor, save for the flush of fever. His ivy-green eyes were cloudy and over-bright. He licked his lips, mouth cottony-dry.
"Mama, I don't feel well," he whispered, sounding pitiful to even his own ears. Shiori's expression darkened. Her boy had never taken a sick day, not as long as she could remember. She pressed a hand to his forehead, frowned, then brushed his bangs away to press her lips against the skin. He burned.
"I'll call the school and tell them you're not coming in. I have to work today, but I'll try to check in on you at lunchtime, all right? You just rest and get better, Shuichi, I'll take care of you."
He nodded. "Yes, Mama."
Shiori opened the window, but closed the blinds tightly to cast away any light that could possibly impede his rest, and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Shuichi allowed himself to smile just a little, despite feeling like he'd been through a fight with the Saint-Beasts all over again. What would Hiei say to this? The famed demon bandit Kurama taking a sick day? Being pampered by his human mother? Oh, he knew exactly what Hiei would say about this. He'd stare at Shuichi…or rather, Kurama, as was his true name…and call him a stupid fox.
"Well, you can insult me all you like, Hiei," he mumbled, pulling the covers back over his head, "but I can sleep in, while no doubt you are off running errands for Koenma again like a delivery boy."
++
He woke with a start a little while later, his troubled dreams making him jump. Memories had flown unbidden into his agonized mind, days of the ruthless Youko Kurama, the silver fox-demon. His stomach flopped, throat burning with that awful sensation that one gets when they're dead certain they're about to retch.
"Hello, Kurama! I didn't expect to find you here, I thought you would be in school today," a cheery voice declared.
Kurama sat up, rubbing his eyes. Was he hallucinating, or was there really a perky River Styx ferry-girl standing in front of his window? The figure in pink refused to dissipate, proving she was not a hallucination.
"I'm sick today, Botan," he stated.
The blue-haired girl clucked her tongue. "I'm sorry to hear that. But surely you're not too sick to take an assignment, are you? Lord Koenma has been unable to contact Yusuke and Hiei has flat-out refused."
Kurama leveled her with a green-eyed glare. "Sick means sick, Botan. If Shuichi is too ill to attend school, then there is no way that Kurama will be able to manage a case. I'm sorry."
She shrugged. "Oh well, then I suppose that demon will just be left to roam free. See you later, Kurama!"
"You're not guilt-tripping me into taking a case, Botan! How hard is it to find Yusuke? He's probably causing trouble on some street corner!" Kurama shouted hoarsely, wishing he had something to throw at her. But Botan had already left.
"Why do I have the terrible suspicion that I will not be getting any rest today?"
++
He woke again a little while later, getting up to make himself a bowl of Ramen soup and a bottle of ginger ale, which was supposedly good for upset stomachs. Getting out of bed had proved almost too much for him, and he'd nearly collapsed in the kitchen. It was a miracle that he'd managed to get back upstairs to bed and not spill his bowl of soup.
Then came the voices outside the window, one low and hissing, the other loud and grating on his nerves. It sounded suspiciously like a pair of very familiar miscreants. The voices stopped suddenly, but were replaced by the loud 'clunk' of something hitting the house next to the window…something that sounded like a ladder.
"I'm being punished for something, I just know it," he muttered, setting aside his soup.
"Yo Kurama, you home?"
The ginger hair and idiotic face of one Kazuma Kuwabara appeared, pushing the blinds aside as he crawled in through the window. The equally idiotic face of one Yusuke Urameshi appeared not long after that.
"Hey, what's up, Kurama?" Yusuke asked, brushing off his uniform. "Word on the street is that a certain genius by the name of Shuichi Minamino is skipping school today, so we thought we'd cut class and see if you'd like to go out with us today."
Kurama tried another leveling glare…it had worked for Botan, so perhaps it would work for these two. No such luck.
"Yeah, we borrowed my sister's car and we're taking it into Tokyo center for the day!" Kuwabara added. "C'mon, Kurama, it'll be cool. I hear there's some big parade in town."
"I'm not 'skipping school,' I'm genuinely sick, Yusuke. I'm quite certain that if you were to take my temperature right now, it would break the thermometer. So you and Kuwabara go off and have your fun, I'm perfectly satisfied just lying here and resting."
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "I swear you're just faking, Kurama. You're a demon, you can't get sick."
"I'm half-demon, and yes, I can get sick. If you would like me to throw up to prove my point, I will. Oh, and by the way, apparently Koenma has been looking for you."
"I told you I had that tickle feeling!" Kuwabara quipped. "He's going to be so pissed off at you when he finds out."
"Shut up, Kuwabara. You know, for a demon, you're such a tight-ass goody-goody, Kurama. And here I thought you were better than Hiei. Guess I was wrong. Let's go, Kuwabara."
The green-eyed young man growled. "I'm sick, you idiot! Sick!"
Kurama was starting to wonder if things could get any worse for him. That was about the point when Kuwabara slammed the ladder against the house, rattling the walls and furniture. Kurama's bowl of Ramen fell onto the floor, the broth leaking into the carpet.
"It just isn't fair."
++
He woke one more time, somewhere early in the afternoon, this time screaming. His pajamas seemed to burn his skin, and he scrambled to his feet, throwing them across the room with a strangled cry. He could feel that touch all over his body, see those terrible blue-gray eyes boring straight into him.
"I love you, Kurama, and that is why I have to kill you."
He couldn't breathe, lungs burning, throat tight and dry. His heart was beating faster than hummingbird wings in his constricted chest, eyes pricking with tears. Kurama fell to his knees, arm slung over the side of the bed as he remained motionless on the floor, gasping and choking.
"Karasu again, fox?"
"Hiei…" he breathed, relaxing instantly.
The fire-demon folded his arms against his chest. "You're feverish. Get back in bed, you stupid kitsune. Have you even slept at all today?"
"I would have," Kurama sighed, climbing back into bed at Hiei's demand, "had I not been interrupted by so many visitors today. Botan wished to charge me with an assignment, and then Yusuke and Kuwabara…"
"I know about those two. Koenma made me go hunt them down. You should have heard them bellowing when I hauled them to his office, they sounded like a couple of bulls going to slaughter." Hiei's bandaged hand touched his forehead briefly. "Idiots, all of them. They should have left you alone."
"I'll agree to that. Will you stay? I'd sleep better knowing you were around…since I just can't get rid of him. He continues to haunt me even after I watched him die by my own hand."
Hiei sat down in a chair in the corner. "For a little while, fox. If that damned demon lays a finger on you again, even in dreams, I'll carve him up into pieces and throw him into the nearest abyss."
Kurama smiled, letting his eyes close. "Thank you, Hiei. I…"
"Shut up and go to sleep, fox. You can declare your adorations all you like when you're well again. And that'd better be soon, because if I get stuck with those damn humans again, I swear your tail is going through the wringer!"
There was no response, the redhead already asleep again.
"Stupid fox. I shouldn't care," Hiei muttered, walking across the room to kiss the half-demon's flushed cheek lightly, before going back to his sentinel duty in the corner.
++
"Shuichi, I'm home!"
Shuichi was sitting up in bed, reading. He glanced over to the corner, where he swore a figure in black with carbuncle-red eyes had been sitting, guarding over him. But the chair was empty. If there'd been someone there before, he was long gone. Shiori slipped into the room, beaming at her son.
"You look so much better, Shuichi! How do you feel?" she asked, touching his forehead. It was far cooler, the fever broken. He smiled.
"Still tired, but I think I could go to school tomorrow," he answered. "I was rather bored all day by myself."
Of course, he wasn't about to admit that he hadn't been by himself for most of the day. Best that she didn't know that in the time she was gone, the pilot of the River Styx, the Spirit Detective and his dimwitted accomplice, and his reluctant lover had stopped by. No, that was Kurama's lifestyle, he was merely Shuichi now.
"I'll bet. You know, it was the strangest thing, though. They had the television on at work, and there was a boy riding on a parade float who looked an awful lot like you…and there were signs everywhere all day that said 'Save Shuichi.' Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Shuichi dear?"
He was certain somewhere Yusuke was laughing hysterically, and when he found that bastard, he'd be pulling thorns out of his ass for a month.
"Me? Riding on a parade float? Mother, really. It sounds like some elaborate prank to me."
She patted his head like a little boy. "I thought so. I knew my Shuichi wouldn't do something that crazy. I'll go make you some hot soup and bring it up to you, all right?"
He nodded his thanks, setting his book aside. "Parade float, hmph. Next thing you'll be telling me is that there's some other silver-haired fox demon clad in red running around Tokyo." He thought about this for a moment. "Nah…that'll never happen."
And if anyone tried to bother Shuichi for the remainder of the night, they'd find themselves staring down the business end of Hiei's sword, the fire demon sitting in the tree outside his bedroom window. And somewhere in the city, the strains of "Twist and Shout" played.
++
Fin.
Notes: Heh, you have to love the references to Kurama wannabe Inu-Yasha and the inspiration for the story, that timeless classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, though the real inspiration was a weird dream I had after staying up until two-thirty watching anime. I have to say, though, I'm highly disappointed by the Hakusho movie…where was the regular dubbing cast? And why in the hell did they keep calling him Kuwahara? It's Kuwabara, you assholes, Kuwabara!!!