Silverwing013: Warning! Darker side of author approaching! Take heed! It never did belong to this author but for now...it is in my hands. Walk onward with direct care to the burning coals beneath your open hearts readers. Treading through life never is easy at some point on the path.

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Reviews For: A Forlorn Hope

What2callmyself
Shot! O.O! Hell yes! I love the story! The length! The detail! faint It nicely shows a peak into Kurama's mind as a very good and a very bad little boy. I like what you have done so far and I am very curious as to what happens now with the changed storyline. SO with that, please please please update son!

Niana Kuonji
He's playing the wicked fox here. Ooh, this should be interesting! Feels mildly sorry for Hiei, but knows he'll figure out how to pay Kurama back

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Laugh

The new boy. The outcast. The mystery. The interest. The gossip. The rich boy. The one everyone was talking about.

Shuichi Minamino heard the words whispered up and down the hallways, not participating but listening all the same for the knowledge spreading like a cancer form around him.

The curiosity's namesake being thrown around the crowded noisy hallways was Japan's most feared child and yet no one ever knew enough about. True, they knew plenty of the sister, twin of the brother. She had been kidnapped only a little while ago, police happy when she appeared just as suddenly as she disappeared, not truly knowing how she came to be back. A happy, naive, kind, simple girl; she enjoyed the pleasures thrown upon her blue dyed hair from her rich parents. Her brother had a much darker past, highly more secretive in his nature, giving the press a high praise on if they could ever see a single toe nail clipping from him. Rumors had flooded teen magazines for many times, him not going to the press to agree or disagree with their statements, but the rumors simply flourished as to hope to hit an iron nail right on in the brother's mysterious activities.

Shuichi Minamino could care less.

It wasn't his business to get involved in this matter. Curiosity pounded over his senses but he sat down in an empty classroom, quite early for a student, pulling out a reading book from his back pocket. Shakespeare. Hamlet in fact. The teacher nodded at the early student as he walked inside the classroom, retrieving last week's papers on Romeo and Juliet. A ridiculously simple play on a recurring factor in books that the early student found a tad annoying. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, danger strikes, and a lesson is learned from their love. All happening in a few days inside this play. Shuichi Minamino continued onward with Hamlet, nearly done with the book due in two weeks time from now.

Students piled inside the room in gabbing groups, words passing from their mouths on this new boy. Shuichi Minamino continued onward with Hamlet, grateful and thanking the god above that fan girls and guys were not pestering him as usual with his unnatural female appearance they were attracted to like an insect to the flickering light. The room slowly settled down of the continuous teenager movement going about the room, becoming quiet as the teacher said good morning to the class. Closing and placing his book down, Shuichi Minamino answered with the rest of the class, finding why the classroom had become quiet for once when this teacher moved to the front of the classroom.

The blackboard announced, "New Student".

No wonder they were silenced. He glanced carefully about the room, finding no one new inside of it. Just at the moment he was to discard this new boy from coming, the door slid open. He adverted his eyes quickly, finding everyone around him standing up to see the new boy. He hated that kind of attention. For a moment, Shuichi Minamino almost felt sorry for this new boy. He hated that kind of attention. But, he couldn't really feel emotion for this boy at the moment. For Shuichi Minamino was plotting. His mother was withering away inside the local general hospital of something even their own doctors could not solve. There was a particular time a few scarce months ago where she became drastically worse in her condition, doctors and him under the frightening belief that she would die. He could solve it. It would risk everything in his life that he had accomplished so far but he was the only one who could solve this particular problem.

Problem was that his mother had a time limit to her lifeline. Her shortened lifeline.

Funny thing was that no one knew. He found this amusing somehow, the fact that not one single soul knew the fact that his mother was dieing away almost hilarious. Because everyone was up in everyone else's business, even more so in his own. It was rather sadistic that he thought this funny. But the fact of his mother dieing away in that hospital blank room upon it's bed stung badly inside of him, it was hard to find a simple joy in anything the last few months time, so perhaps this hilarity found in his mother's death was a way to release that feeling. Although, the feeling had yet to come to his delicate features.

The teacher's voice interrupted Shuichi Minamino's inner musings, introducing the new student as not the new boy but the new girl. The sister of the twins. The excitement of hoping for the male of the twins died down slightly, though many a student persuaded the new girl to seat near them. The new girl passed by Shuichi Minamino and the rest of the front row, blur of the school's uniform and her turquoise blue hair going past as she sat second row to the back with several of the popular girls inside the school system. The girls eagerly talking to the new girl as they pointed out whom she should and shouldn't speak to in their class. He felt fingers pointing at his back as he sat in the front and knew with dreading certainty that there was to be a new member of the 'Shuichi Minamino Fan Club' by the end of today. As if he needed another problem or irritation in the day.

The teacher attempted to gain the classroom's short attention spans, marking the start of another beautiful school day.

The class's attention was limited, proving to the teacher that he should probably move back the due date of Hamlet with the new girl's appearance inside their school, but he refrained from doing so. Class ended without much progress, kids streaming out the door in mobs around the new girl. Shuichi Minamino went through his schedule for the rest of the day, keeping away from the mobs. Personal space was much appreciated when girls gave him few chances to do so. Bell sounded off throughout the building, calling out the lunchtime hour. He quickly made his way through the line, ducking inside the soft wooden encasing high top shelves of the intricate library when he finished off the school's food. He was beginning to miss his mother's cooking she used to make for him in the morning. Shuichi Minamino was very able to make and prepare food himself but there was something added to it if his mother had given it to him in the mornings.

His fingers trailed over the shelves, picking out a book titled Kitsune Lore to try to break himself from thoughts of his mother being in the hospital. Flipping between the cover, his eyes skimmed over a story that his hand had stopped on, finding it to be a tale of the King of Thieves, Yoko Kurama and the Bounty Hunter. He frowned of a slight upon his face, snapping the book shut. The kitsune had died. Slipping the book back, his eyes roved across the expanse row of books before him, looking for one that would at least give him a slightly better mood or idea how to help his mother. His eyes caught sight of a small book pushed behind the one he himself had just pulled out. Curiosity reigned over him this time, unlike with the new student, hand carefully getting the book out from the back of the shelf to see what had been shoved behind the others.

"Woes of Souls Told From the Forlorn Hope," his lips read the faded cover silently.

Woes of souls fit too much entirely with his mood already; he placed the book back in the line up among the others, eyes already searching for a more humorous piece if he could. Fingers reached up to the shelf again, curiosity breached again as he spotted one merely titled with Koorime. He placed the book back, thinking that perhaps, the mythological shelf wasn't the best way to cheer him up as someone tapped on his hand. He turned, eyes noticing the student for the first time, her sweet light blue hair framing her face in a border around those very warm cinnamon eyes peering friendly up at him. Blinking he came to the realization of why this girl had tapped his hand as opposed to his shoulder. She was, for lack of a better choice of words, vertically challenged. The school's uniform just swam over her small body with no protests, a black tank top that had surely came from a male made good use under her shirt to hide any bra straps or in showing too much skin. A thin black belt wrapped easily around her small waist to hold up the red skirt that fell down close to her ankles, making the traditional short uniform look long on her legs, but Shuichi Minamino decided he liked the long look better fore it suited this girl quite well. Forgetting all past troubles with his search in the library, he smiled warmly at her before turning away, attention back on the shelf of books already. It was the new girl. No doubt the other fan girls had placed her up to this, knowing that he treated everyone kindly.

Her hesitant voice found voice soon enough however, "...erm... Hello? I was wondering if you could...help me?"

Shuichi Minamino paused in his search for a more reliable book, nearly sighing as he could here the words, 'Could you show me around?' come from her mouth as an answer. As kind as he was, he disliked showing a girl around even if they were new. The other fan girls would point as they saw 'kind' Shuichi Minamino helping the new girl out, new strengthened belief in that they had a chance with him. He'd rather go through his day with less attention because he's had enough attention to last him a lifetime. However, despite what thoughts ran through his head, he turned to the new girl, giving her another small smile to prove that he was kind and wouldn't bit her head off like other male teenagers. Perhaps her word gaps would disappear or become farther as a typical fan girl blush would grace her cheeks. But she did neither.

"I was wondering...if you could show me...back to my locker...at least? I think I can find my way around if you...can show me back? I'd ask one of those...other girls...but I seem to have...lost...them?"

Why did everything she say sound like she was questioning herself? Shuichi Minamino frowned a tad at her reluctance to ask him for the help. It was like she was frightened of him somehow. As soon as he thought this, her fidgeting before him seemed more pronounced. He glanced about the library; fully looking at whom else was in the library with him, taking silent notes. Mister Takibana the male librarian of the two, Kaito a fellow classmate that was number two in class rankings, a small group of guys nearby looking all too interested inside a book that Shuichi Minamino would nearly guarantee was as the school defined as 'inappropriate' (no wonder a innocent looking girl like herself didn't wander over like a lost doe to ask them for help, a couple of the boys looked over at her like they were undressing her openly in their mind's eye). "Sure. I'll help you back to your locker." He briefly sighed inside his head. There goes his small sanction of time for himself today and more attention than usual.

The girl smiled up at him gladly. "Thank you. Normally...I wouldn't bother anyone...much. But...brother...couldn't make it today...or I'd just...ask him. And...and they pulled back...the guard...for today...and I do hope...with the other girls kind words...you will only help?"

There she went again, Shuichi Minamino thought irritably as she ended with a question once more. He smiled briefly at the new girl, leading her through the tall shelves of books to the exit of the library. "Follow quickly and perhaps we'll miss the crowds from the lunchroom," he traveled his way quickly down the stream of hallways, easily finding his way as she rushed along behind him through the dead silent pale whiteness of the school at this time. He strolled past two large open doors a tad faster than before and she quickened her pace to a run as he did so, a fierce blare of noise coming from the two doors. She slowed before completely passing the doorway to see new classmates chatting, laughing, tossing objects every so often across the cafe. "You coming along well? The bell will ring soon, don't linger please or the pandemonium will overtake a single person alone in the hallway," he called over his shoulder as he made another turn down another look alike long hallway. She speed up behind him as the bell sounded from overhead, pounding of the floor was felt through her running feet from the mob she could very much hear behind her. Panicked, she attempted to run faster behind her helping hand, glancing behind to see students covering the whole base of the hallway behind her and slipped forward as she stepped on top a pencil lying innocently on the white tile below her. Shuichi Minamino checked to she if she was keeping up the very moment she stepped, his warning call coming out too late for the new girl as she fell plum on her rear. She turned, fearful eyes seeing the group still stampeding toward her, not having noticed the girl lying on the floor due to talking to their partners beside them.

"Stop? Stop," she said more forcibly as the crowd descended upon her trying to scoot over to the side of the starching white hallway.

Inches away, a force tugged her away from the imposing doom, carrying her safely inside a now empty classroom save for the jerk on the way past the door. Green eyes looked down at her, "You should really watch where you're going." He stood up, straightening before the new girl. She looked up at him, in a bemused sort of way, blinking at him curiously. Slowly realizing she was starring, she darted her eyes away from the red head before her. He sighed, knowing if she wasn't a fan girl before, she was now. Alas, Shuichi could not leave well enough alone when he probably should at this point of realizing the riveting power of his beauty alone. "Listen, I've got a self study class next. I'll take a few minutes to show you a safer way to your locker and explain things with your next teacher. They'll understand." The new girl nodded more shyly than before at him, rising up from her seat on the floor.

"Thank you," she bowed before him most gratefully. "But...I don't even know...your na--oh!" She cried it out in soft surprise as she noticed a straight dark line on the shoulder of his uniform. "Your hurt." She raised her hands up to touch the injury gently, he letting her for a few seconds before taking her hands away from the spot, stepping away with a pleasant smile.

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Inside he was grumbling madly as he could picture the fan girls noticing the smallest of injuries in his next group class, fawning over him, then somehow finding out he had done it in good cause in saving the new girl, making their raining compliments over his head to create a migraine. Joy. Why did his god above want him to suffer so? Did his god find this funny at all or one bit? Or was it just him?

"Let me look at it," she said politely but forcibly. Shuichi blinked at her sudden certain tones and she blushed slightly at his reaction. "Brother…says the same thing on…his injuries." He shrugged at her, pulling up his sleeve so that she could properly look at it. "I'll…I'll need some cold water."

Shuichi glanced about the room, chuckling. "It seems perhaps, that my god likes me more than I thought." She blinked her cinnamon eyes at him, frowning slightly as she started to open her mouth. "I mean," he interrupted with a shrug toward the room around them, "we are in the chemistry room." Her face immediately flushed up, taking her eyes off of him.

"I…I'm sorry. I…don't like you…in that way. Your…nice…and all…but I just don't…. Why are you…laughing?"

For Shuichi Minamino reeled backwards, sleeve still pushed up past his shoulder as he gripped at his stomach, peals of laughter ripping from his throat, tears running down his face. He took gasping breaths as he tried to stop the laughter, tears running farther down his reddened cheeks. The girl looked on in confusion as he continued laughing. Shuichi pushed himself up from the floor, making attempts on steadying his breath but saw her face and the laughter broke clean again. Finally after minutes of laughter, he seemed to catch his breath.

"Oh…that hurts," he said with the still smile on his face, eyes still tearing up. He rubbed his stomach sorely. "Most apologies miss. I haven't had a laugh in a good clean while with my…. Perhaps my god was listening when I was looking for a good book to cheer myself up," he grinned madly at the confused girl and let out another burst of laughter. "There are water faucets over at the counter."

She glanced over at the counter, then back at Shuichi sitting on the floor rubbing his stomach sorely again, then she blushed slightly with her mistake, sweet laughter of her own came tinkling out. "Sorry," she apologized with a pleasant smile. She took another look at the red head sitting on the floor with a smile, and then headed off to the sink to turn the tab marked blue for cold water. Using a paper towel to soak up the amount of cold water she wanted, she turned back to help the boy that had helped her.

He was starring out toward the window about ten feet from him, a relaxed smile on his face as he kept his green eyes upon the window. Both lean arms placed behind him as he leaned back on them comfortably; one leg resting along the floor while the other was bent slightly at the knee. He appeared so at peace with himself that the new girl had paused in her nursing duties to indulge her hero boy. He suddenly turned his head swiftly at her, smile twitching the corner of his lip. She smiled before kneeling next to his shoulder, dabbing at the red line across his shoulder.

"If I may…?" She paused as he looked up at her. "What is…causing you to have such a…long face?"

He turned his face back toward the window, mouth becoming drawn back down again from the sparse moment of joy.

"Oh," she focused her attention back on the scratch. Making sure his attention was out the window; she placed her hand gently over the mark, closing her eyes in concentration as she willed it to heal. He let out a small gasp, rotating his head back to where her hand lay, looking at her curiously. She smiled at his face. "Finished," she pronounced. "It wasn't deep at all…so all is fine." She took her other hand to pull the sleeve back down, removing her hand covering the wound when his green eyes couldn't see it past the sleeve. Convenient.

"Thank you," he said evenly, standing up to brush himself off, he walked over to the door. "Coast is clear. I can head you over to your locker without fuss now. What class do you have now?"

"Uh…Health class I think," she followed him quickly out the door, easily spotting her locker G77 nearby. "There's my locker. …17…37…07…. There," she twisted open the locker, being glad that the locker combination was so easy to remember at this new school. Reaching up on tiptoe, she stretched a hand upwards inside her locker, feeling around for the book she couldn't see. The book magically appeared in front of her face and she blinked rapidly at it as her hand continued the unnecessary book search.

Green eyes came out from behind the book; the red head had taken it from her locker for her. "Perhaps you should ask the office for a bottom locker," he suggested.

"Th-thank you," she stammered slightly for the first real time today. She finally dropped the searching hand, taking the health book from him.

"It is not a huge deal," he answered to her words of kindness, turning to walk down the hallway once more. "After you healed me for such a small scratch." His head turned back as he continued walking to see her small-embarrassed smile. "Come. I'll explain to Mister Endo a reason on why you are late for class."

She closed her locker quietly, following after the red head leading her a few doors down the hallway. "Here you are miss," he smiled down at her, opening the door to let her inside first.

"Ah! Miss Tsuin!" Bellowed a voice from the classroom. "How kind of you to finally join the…. Hello Mister Minamino," the teacher greeted quite a tad nicer as the red head followed in behind the smaller girl. The red head smiled and nodded at the older teacher, trying to pay no mind to the fan girls cooing at him entering after the new girl.

"My apologies Mister Endo," he apologized, sounding sincere. "I escorted young Miss Tsuin to class after lunch with the rush coming from the café."

"Ah, ah," the teacher rubbed at his little bearded chin thoughtfully. "I see…. I will let Miss Tsuin off today considering it is her first day here and her guard isn't here."

"I'm sorry," the girl spoke up from her seat, looking apologetic. "I'll ask about that…with him…. And I will see…if my brother…will be able to come…tomorrow…to class."

The teacher looked away from the red head, glancing at the new girl in interest. "Quite alright. Please see if Mister Tsuin will come to class. I've seen that he usually has a superb attendance record. Even if his behavior is doesn't seem to look on the brightest of any side."

She froze slightly in her seat and a look passed for a millisecond that didn't seem to fit her sweet face. Hatred. "Brother is not judged fairly Mister Endo."

He nodded at her. "I'll make up my own mind when he comes to my class Miss Tsuin. A little sweet looking girl like yourself doesn't need to worry about such things."

The red head looked at the new girl in faint curiosity as she clenched the sides of her desk at these words for a few seconds, then his mind flew across the rumor databank that he had heard about the new girl. That's right, Shuichi Minamino thought, she's been kidnapped before and no one knows how she came to be back. The teacher talking down at her would send off nerves. "Good day Mister Endo. I'll escort Miss Tsuin to her next class today if necessary."

The new girl's eyes lightened up at his words, but faded back at the reply.

"I'm sure someone in this classroom will be happy to do that Mister Minamino. We don't need another fawning fan girl now do we? It gets tiring for an old man like myself to hold down on young teenagers lust emotions. And I'm sure you have someplace to be tonight, am I right?"

The red head narrowed his eyes slightly at the teacher, but smiled at Mister Endo. "Right," he answered somewhat tensely. "I've got a self class project to show to Mrs. Kyoto now. Pardon me." He closed the door quietly behind himself, letting his emotions fully undertake him as he stood in the deserted hallway.

How would Mister Endo know about him visiting his mother after school everyday when no one else knew? And bring it up like that? I've figured there was something odd about him before but this only clarifies it. He shook his head. Perhaps he has a family member himself at the general hospital, he tried to reassure himself. It was nothing. Speaking of nothing…. Shuichi pulled his sleeve back up over his lean arm, gazing at the scratch. Or should he say, the lack of a scratch. Human systems do not heal this fast. That girl is more than what she seems. I'll have to keep an eye on this new girl.

Inside the classroom, the new girl paid little attention to Mister Endo, thinking back on the red headed boy that had helped her out. Why did he wear such grim lines across his face so much? Why did he seem so sad, so worried, and tense? And what did Mister Endo say exactly to set the red head off from his normal face politeness?

Fwap!

Her turquoise blue head snapped up in attention as the ruler hit her desk. "Yes…? Mister Endo?"

"The answer to the question Miss Tsuin is breast feeding." Starring blankly at him, she felt her face redden up again as several classmates snickered. "It was a simple question of the natural way for a mother to feed a child."

"Oh. Sorry Mister Endo. My mind…was elsewhere…." She trailed off as she saw the red head's grim face starring out the window from before in the chemistry room. So sad, she thought. What bothers him so? But she blinked suddenly as Mister Endo squatted in front of her desk.

"Shuichi Minamino is not to be tampered with," he whispered fiercely so that she could barely hear him. "Especially not from you ice girl."

Mister Endo stood up, strolling over across to the board. "Now that we have everyone's attention from Mister Minamino being in here," he glared at all the girls that sighed. "Let's move on with the lesson."

He knows? She simply starred at the man teaching without really paying attention, nothing entering through her ears. But then her next thought was, it seems he doesn't want to hurt me about it, that nice red head seems to be the one he wants to hurt. No wonder he looked tense about what Mister Endo said.

Brother will have to be told about this Mister Endo.