Recently I've taken a liking to writing fics that explain gaps in time in the series. This fic represents all that happens back in Ningenkai while all the focus is centered in the Makai during the 3 Kings arc. Or at least, it'll start out that way in any case. The main character, as you all will soon learn, is Hatanaka Suichi. I realize that Shuichi is usually spelled this way, but for purposes of making it easier to tell the difference between this Suichi and Kurama/Shuichi, the younger one will not be spelled with an 'h.' Oh, and starting on the second chapter I will start ending chapters with notes and ideas on character development (Like the "Secret Lives of Characters" in the Rurouni Kenshin books) for those of you who are interested in that kind of stuff.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters or whatever involved in it. I do own the OC's of this fic and would appreciate them not being ripped off. So now that that's taken care of…ON WITH THE FIC!
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Episode 1: The Brain-Dead Beauty
All things follow a pattern, a predetermined track that keeps the order of this world and the balance between it and the other worlds. Sure, every once in a while someone tries to destroy a world and thus destroy the balance, but the very nature and purpose of the pattern always turns up a way to defeat such an enemy. The pattern, though it continues endlessly, refreshes itself constantly. The rolls and responsibilities are always the same, but the players of those rolls, their powers and their pasts and their reasons change all the time without anyone even noticing. Once one group has done all it can for the good of this world, they are replaced and the pattern, the cycle begins again. The only question is, when all things come full circle, who will enter the pattern and will they be strong enough to keep the balance.
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Subarashisa Junior High – Lunch Break
"You take her!"
"No, you take her!"
"It's your pick!"
"So what? I don't want her! Why is she even playing, it's not like she understands it."
Hatanaka Suichi stared at the girl the team captains were fighting over. Her name was Yanagi Omosa and for all intents and purposes the class had labeled her brain dead. She never talked, never had any kind of facial expression on her face, and never made any sign that she even heard anything that was spoken to her. Somehow, as they were picking teams for a quick lunch baseball game, she had drifted over to the crowd and was now the only player left to be picked.
Suddenly, as though feeling his eyes on her, she looked up at him, startling him. Her pale gold eyes were completely blank and though the wind blew her shoulder length light pink hair into her face, she made no move to brush it back. She seemed so empty, like a body without a soul. It sent a shiver down Suichi's spine.
"Fine!" Oto, the captain whose turn it was to pick finally threw his arms up in defeat. "Fine, I'll take her. Can we just play now?"
The game began and right from the start Yanagi proved to be a major headache for her team. Her first offense was that she never swung the bat. Kinamoto, the pitcher for Suichi's team, could throw perfect strikes with his eyes closed, but she never swung at any of them.
"Swing Yanagi, swing!"
The ball whizzed past and into Suichi, the catcher's mitt.
"Strike one!"
"SWING YANAGI!"
Another ball straight to the catcher.
"Strike two!"
"SWING THE BAT YANAGI!"
A third ball hit Suichi's glove.
"Strike three, batter's out!
On top of this, she didn't field. She just stood there and watched the ball go past, never making a move to go get it. Oto finally just stuck her in right field and prayed the other team didn't have any left handed batters.
Soon, there were only two minutes left of lunch break and Suichi's team was up by one run.
"Alright," Oto began, pacing the dugout and putting himself into 'pep talk mode.' "All we need is two runs. The bases are loaded, if the next batter just gets a double we win. Who's up?" No one answered and Oto began to feel uneasy. "Who's up?" he asked again, almost fearing the answer.
"Yanagi," someone finally sighed. Oto sunk onto the bench as Yanagi picked up a bat and walked to the plate. "We're screwed," he sighed.
Yanagi stepped up to the plate. Suichi glanced up at her through his catcher's mask. Winning was great and all, but he didn't want to win like this, because she refused to swing the bat.
"It's not that hard, just swing," he whispered to her. Her dead eyes swiveled to look at him just as the first strike streaked by.
"Just swing the bat," he repeated at the flicker of curiosity that sparked in those empty, soulless pools of gold. "Just take a step and swing your arms, it's not hard," he assured her, throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
"Swing the bat. Please swing the bat. Please, please swing the bat," Oto was praying to himself with his eyes closed. Those close enough to hear him sweatdropped.
"Give it up, Oto. It's a lost cause."
The second strike went by Yanagi, she didn't move. Suichi sighed as he stood momentarily to throw the ball back.
"Come on," he whispered to her, "I know you can do it. Just swing. It's alright if you miss, but you have to at least try." She looked at him again, her face still completely emotionless, than turned back to the pitcher.
"Swing Yanagi," Oto continued to mutter under his breath.
"Why does he want to win so badly anyway?" Takuchi wondered.
"Because he bet Kinamoto his entire baseball card collection we would win," Watanabe snickered.
"That was dumb," Takuchi mumbled.
Watanabe just laughed. "Yeah, that was before he realized Yanagi was playing."
Kinamoto wound up, readying himself for a fast ball. Yanagi stood, waiting. The ball was released and Yanagi…
"Holy shit!" Takuchi and Watanabe both shouted together, jumping up.
"What!" Oto cried in surprise, having had his eyes closed. They both looked at him, completely white with shock.
"Yanagi swung," Watanabe answered weakly.
The ball soured threw the air, high over the outfielder's heads and clear over the schoolyard wall, setting off a car alarm in the distance. Everyone was stunned into paralysis, staring at the wall the ball had disappeared behind. Suichi was the first to recover.
"Run," he said simply. Yanagi turned to look at him again, the spark of curiosity and proof that she was indeed alive in there somewhere was back again. "Run Yanagi-chan, run!" he repeated excitedly, motioning with his arms for her to go. The other base runners heard him and began to sprint around the diamond as Yanagi started off hesitantly but steadily towards first base.
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Halfway between Subarashisa Jr. High and the Minamino/Hatanaka residence
6:47 that evening
Suichi sighed, what a day. Oto had made them all stay a full hour and a half after school for a party celebrating their victory and his continued ownership of his baseball card collection. On top of that, he had had to stop by the science department afterwards and make up a test he had missed last week. And now he had to go home and do another two or so hours worth of homework and his brother wasn't even around to help him so he'd be forced to struggle through it himself. Wonderful.
The sun was setting and an orange glow surrounded him. He rather liked sunset, it was peaceful and calming and really quite beautiful too. He could hear the footsteps of someone walking behind him, but he didn't think anything of it.
"You were right, it wasn't hard," a completely unfamiliar voice spoke up behind him, making him jump. He turned around, wondering if the person was indeed talking to him.
"Y-Yanagi-chan?" he squeaked in surprise. He hadn't even seen her at Oto's party, and now here she was. And…and she had talked! More than that, she was…smiling! She looked like a completely different person all together. Her eyes sparkled with life and her face was bright in a wide smile. She looked oddly tired, but he hardly paid any attention to that detail.
"You don't have to be so formal," she said politely, "no one else calls me 'chan'." Suichi just gaped.
"Hatanaka-kun? Daijobu?" she wondered, her smiled fading slightly.
"Fine!" he managed in a high, nervous squeak. "I'm fine," he added, regaining a somewhat more normal control of his voice. Her smile flared up again.
"I can't stay, I have to go. I just wanted to thank you. No one else would have done something like that. Arigato…for believing in me," the last part was almost a whisper and without another word she turned to leave.
Suichi just stared…no one believed in her…surly her family... Well, to be honest he knew absolutely nothing about her family. In fact, he knew absolutely nothing about her. He was just about to call her back when he blinked and looked around. She was gone.
"I must have spaced out…" he said absently to himself, rubbing the back of his head. With a final glance down the street and a shrug, he turned and continued home.
From a nearby rooftop a single figure silhouetted in the rays of the setting sun watched him go. "It isn't very often I get control, you should feel very special that I used this rare opportunity on you, Hatanaka-kun." Smiling to herself, she turned to leave, throwing over her shoulder "There is much more to you than you realize, Hatanaka Suichi. It's hiding within you, just beneath the surface. But I don't think it will stay there for much longer."
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So, what did you think? No, there won't be any romance between this girl and Suichi. Or, well, let me say this, there will be some best friend type moments that I guess could be interpreted as romance if you read such things into it that way. But, for the most part, I'm going to try to keep romantic relationships out of the team. You'll see what I mean soon.
Also, I'm trying to write this more in the style of the show than in my actual usual writing style, which is why I'm adding sweatdrops and not describing every single miscellanies character like I usually do. And therefore, in light of the show I'll be adding teasers for the next chappy on the end too. n.n If you think it's cheesy and want to skip it feel free but I feel like I should. I'm still debating whether or not to do recaps at the beginning of the chapters too and I guess the little prologue type thingy at the beginning was a narrator part as well. Let me know if you think it'll help.
Teaser for next episode…chappy…thing
Hey everyone, Hatanaka Suichi here. I thought I was completely normal. Just a normal human with a normal human life and normal human problems. Or at least, that's what I used to think. I'm not sure what to think now. Poor Yanagi-chan, turns out she's got some pretty dark, not to even mention creepy, secrets and I want to help her anyway I can. But what does that mean I have to do? I'm not sure but I get the feeling I'm about to find out. So, if you're particularly interested in blood and monsters, than don't miss the next episode of Yu Yu Hakusho: Kanzen na Maru. When all things come full circle, who will enter the pattern and will they be strong enough to keep the balance?