Debt Settlement
DISCLAIMER: "Yu Yu Hakusho" is not and never will be mine.
NOTE: My Valentine's Day special for my favorite pairing in the series. They had such little time together and so much potential that it was a waste. This is my way of exploring how things could have been changed. If only something had happened even for a moment before the stadium began collapsing on them.
And I'm assuming that Shizuru has a considerable (though untapped) amount of spirit energy. This is my first attempt at writing for this fandom so please be kind. Hope you enjoy.
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Shizuru knew as soon as she caught the lighter in her hand exactly what this meant. She had only to glance anxiously at Sakyo to confirm all her suspicions. He smiled sadly her and waved good-bye as nonchalantly as he could manage.
She frowned and was annoyed by that sad, smug look on his face.
The fool was going to throw his life away over a stupid bet! Koenma hadn't even held him to it, but Sakyo just wanted to keep his word anyway.
Shizuru had seen enough pointless deaths in the past few weeks and she stubbornly refused to let this one take place. She would not allow him to kill himself.
"Shizuru! What are you doing?" Koenma protested.
Shizuru had run towards Sakyo suddenly. And as she stood facing him, with the grim determination in her eyes, he looked back at her in both surprise and admiration.
"This is my choice," he whispered, "There's nothing you can do about it."
"That's where you're wrong," she retorted with a glare, "you didn't think I'd ever let you go through with this, did you?"
He looked at her curiously, and even with slight amusement, given the circumstances.
"I don't see how this affects you," he said, attempting to sound indifferent although a catch in his voice told her otherwise. He couldn't fool her, not now, not ever.
"Then, you're a bigger fool than I thought you were," she replied coldly, "but you saved my life, twice. And I'm not about to let that debt go unsettled."
Her idiot of a brother often declared his adherence to his strict code of honor. And though Shizuru was never as vocal about it, she followed her own sense of justice as well. And there was nothing she despised more than owing people anything.
Sakyo looked at her in mingled puzzlement and sadness. She glared back at him, but there was the slightest hint of tenderness in her eyes that she had never shown anyone.
"You don't owe anything," Sakyo whispered softly, "don't worry about it."
"It's not up to you," Shizuru replied sternly. For all her toughness, she had tears glistening in her eyes and she was clearly fighting to keep them from falling.
His eyes widened but he had no answer to give. The defiant look on her face left him completely speechless and he simply waited for what she would do next. All of a sudden he wasn't too keen on dying. What was before him at that moment was more than he ever deserved.
Koenma watched this whole exchange with interest. It was so unexpected and even amusing, though now was hardly the time for such thoughts. He could never have imagined that something like this would happen to these two unlikely individuals. But then again, when he thought about it, they both had so much in common.
The leader of the Spirit World was concerned by the ticking clock on the bomb and wondered how Shizuru was going to convince Sakyo to change his mind. The gambler was hardly a noble person but Koenma didn't see why he should throw his life away needlessly.
"But then again," Koenma thought, "If there was anyone who could convince Sakyo to do anything, I have a pretty good feeling that it would be Shizuru. She has a power even greater than her brother's, if she chooses to use it."
The prince wasn't sure if Shizuru was aware of her own strength, but if she was, he knew she would employ it only at the utmost of need.
All of their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the ceiling cracking above them. There was no time to waste, the stadium had begun self-destructing.
"Shizuru!" Koenma shouted, running towards the girl. Whatever she was planning, she needed to do it now.
"You have to get out of here," Sakyo said urgently, but gently pushing her away, "and don't say that you won't go without me. I didn't save your life for nothing."
Shizuru looked frantically from him to Koenma, who was trying his best to drag her away.
"Fine, I'll go now," she conceded, carefully raising the fist she had been making for the past few minutes.
For a moment Sakyo thought that she was going to punch him in the face but she unclenched her fist and slapped him hard instead.
He took a few steps backward from the force of the blow, and Koenma took this opportunity to pull Shizuru away. She made little resistance as rocks began to fall near them but she continued to face Sakyo's shocked figure.
"Don't you dare die on me, you jerk!" she shouted before she disappeared behind the dust clouds of rubble that had begun to fall.
Sakyo stared at her disappearing figure in shock and put a palm to where his cheek still stung. It was only after a few minutes that he noticed that he wasn't being crushed to death by falling debris. He looked in awe at the small but extremely strong barrier of spirit energy that had formed around him, shielding him from all harm.
"Kuwabara Shizuru," he thought, "this is all your doing."
He walked through the destruction under this great protection, ensuring that he would survive his own folly. Sakyo could not help but shake his head and chuckle in amusement at how the tables had been turned on him yet again. Once more, he had underestimated the strength of people's convictions.
She had repaid her debt tenfold by this, he thought. And it would only be fair for him to respect her wishes.
Sakyo didn't know what she saw in him, or if she would still feel the same way if she knew everything he was, everything he had done. Whatever there was between them, he had gotten the better deal.
He never thought he would be this sentimental but he resolved to not waste this second chance of life given to him. And if he messed up again, he had a feeling that there would be one fiery lady who would beat the crap out of him. But more than anything, he did not want to disappoint her.
Sakyo never understood what drew him to her in the first place. He was certainly the last person to be called heroic or altruistic. But he had saved her twice, with no hesitation. And now, she was returning the favor. Perhaps there was something there that needed to be explored, a new, exciting venture for him to pursue.
Life was not going to be boring, after all.
"We'll meet again, Shizuru," he thought resolutely, "I'll make sure of it."
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"Now, that," Koenma commented after they had safely made it out of the stadium, "was really impressive."
Shizuru merely shrugged and stared wistfully at the lighter in her hand.
"Would you ever consider joining your brother on the team?" Koenma teased, "I'm sure you could even replace him and make Urameshi and the others stronger than ever."
"Not a chance, kid," Shizuru answered wryly, "That's not really my style."
"All right," Koenma replied, "it's a shame though. But I can't say I'm surprised by your answer."
They all watched in silence as the venue for the Dark Tournament quickly turned into a huge pile of rubble. The exhausted members of Team Urameshi were too exhausted to notice the discreet conversation between the last two who had emerged from the destruction. And no one bothered asking what had taken them so long.
"But you do know what kind of a person you just saved, don't you?" Koenma asked in a low, grave tone.
"Of course," Shizuru replied, "I know all about his past."
"And you saved him in spite of all that?" Koenma asked, growing even more intrigued.
"You saw what you saw," Shizuru answered, "why I did it isn't any business of yours."
Koenma held his hands up defensively and grinned at her. She continued to gaze pensively at the wreckage of the stadium.
"I guess it's not," he said cheerily. But he made a mental note to keep an eye on Shizuru's future movements. Sakyo would surely try to make contact, and Koenma didn't quite trust him yet. Besides, even if the gambler didn't try anything suspicious, Koenma was still curious to see what would transpire between him and Shizuru. The teenager grinned with glee. There were some perks at having such an extensive surveillance network in the human world.
Koenma knew that though she would never admit it, Shizuru didn't just save Sakyo to repay him for saving her life. There was so much more to this than just upholding the Kuwabara code of honor.
Shizuru was unperturbed by anything the young prince might be planning. Despite her show of smugness, she was still hoping that whatever power she had used had been enough to save that fool.
She knew everything nasty thing about him but she couldn't find it in herself to hate him.
"I barely even know him," she thought, as she recalled those two rare and short-lived instances when they had encountered each other.
But even then, she could not deny that she felt something for him, that she had never expected to feel for anyone. It was both annoying and exciting. And she was fairly certain he felt something as well, though she could not be sure if it was to the same degree as hers. After all, he had given her his lighter.
Either way, she wanted to know more about these new circumstances, and there would not have been a chance to do so if she had let him go through with his ridiculous suicide plan. Shizuru hated being left hanging.
"We'd better meet again," she shot a mental warning to Sakyo, wherever he was, "and it better be soon."