Heart of Life: Alea Iacta Est

PandaShadow and ArmadillloHunter

Work Doodles

A/N:

Panda: Hello there! This is a story. We are writing it. And I am recycling Kaiya from my other Yu Yu Hakusho story, Spirit Blind, which has now been deleted from the website and will never be seen again.

Armadilllo: Darn, I liked that one. I guess I should say hello too.

Panda: Yes, that would probably be an intelligent idea.

Armadilllo: Lol, k then. It is true. We are writing this story. I cannot deny it. And I really love Kurama.

Panda: And I really love Hiei.

Armadilllo: And together, we love both of them. I should probably apologize to everyone who is reading this story for my treatment of Shuichi. You see, it bothers me that people think he is gay. So to work through my issues, I am making fun of it by having my OC, Marika, think that he is gay. It is one of the many blocks in their relationship. Plus, she doesn't like him that much. And is obsessed with blindness.

Panda: I don't like Mukuro.

Armadilllo: Classic. So, without further ado, I think we should warn you that we do not, in fact, own these characters. We just love them.

Panda: Nor do we own the world. Or Japan. Or the characters that we don't love. We own Marika, Kaiya, their non-existent parents, spider dude, Aiko, and the lovely plot. Because, really, the plot is spectacular. Two heads are truly better than one. On a further note, I will make you aware that Armadilllo writes the odd-numbered chapters, and I write the even-numbered chapters.

Armadilllo: Oh, is that what we agreed on? I thought I was writing the even numbered ones and you were writing the odd numbered ones.

Panda: I was under the impression that two is an even number.

Armadilllo: MATH? WHAT IS THIS? One is an even number.

Panda: Okay. Whatever you say. Anyway, just so you know, this does take place after the show. It disregards both movies and any information that is only in the manga. The general timeframe is right before the next Demon World Tournament is going to start. Yeah. I have paranoia when I am in the shower now. I feel like I'm going to go blind. It's quite entertaining.

Armadilllo: LETS GO ALREADY!

Panda: Wow. You're the one who forgot how numbers work. Anyway, without further further ado, we present to you the lovely chapter one, Work Doodles!

Shiraga Marika turned her book sideways. She had picked it out from the university library a week ago but had yet to actually get very far into it. The Pool of Siloam: Diseases of the Eyes and Modern Treatment Options was not a terribly interesting book. The title seemed better than most that Marika had tried to read in the last few years, but that obviously did not extend to the content or the writing style. It was as dense as an encyclopedia, but much less interesting. Turning it sideways did not seem to help the matter much.

Marika checked again to make sure that there were no customers to help. Today had been slow. No one wanted to buy shoes because it had been pouring rain all day, flooding many roads and making them impassable. Her last class had been cancelled, and her sister Kaiya had phoned her to say that her afterschool programs had been shut down as well, so there was no need for Marika to walk her sister home. The only part to worry about now was whether or not Marika herself could get home without growing a pair of gills. The shoe store where she worked had seen a total of three customers since she had arrived and right now Minamino Shuichi, her co-worker, was helping the only customer in sight. Feeling a bit let down that there was nothing to keep her from reading the book in front of her, she returned the book to its original position.

Marika got through about a half page of boring science processes before stopping and rubbing her eyes in frustration. She was a history major, for goodness sake! She would have hoped that she never had to deal with anything related to math or science for the rest of her life, or, if that was too much to hope for, then at least for the rest of her time in University. But she supposed she only had herself to blame for this. She forced herself to research on this particular topic out of guilt for events long-passed.

"What are you reading?" Shuichi came around the back of the counter. The door was easily visible past the rows and rows of shoes so they could see if any customers came in from the torrential downpour. Marika was sure they didn't want shoes if they happened to wander in; if they did, it would be to escape the rain. "The Pool of –"

Marika moved the book out of his sight before he could finish reading the title. "You are so nosy, Minamino-san. Why do you care what I read in my spare time?"

"I was merely trying to be friendly," Shuichi said, trying to placate her.

Of course he was trying to be friendly. This was Minamino Shuichi, after all. He was nearly perfect in every way. Top of his class throughout high school, happy family, good looks; he had everything. The biggest problem in his whole life was that he was hopelessly attracted to men, or so they said. But what else was to be expected of a clean-cut, well-dressed, long-haired boy? No one who looked at him twice could possibly think otherwise. The rumors abounded every time he was seen in town with younger men. One time they said he was with a tall, red-haired man; another time he was spotted with a short man in a cape.

Marika had to admit he was good-looking. There was something about the way he held himself sometimes that exuded power. Marika wondered if he had ever run with a street gang. Most of the time he was quite harmless and nice to everyone, if a bit quiet. But Marika had seen look in his eyes when the other students poked fun at his sexuality within the range of his hearing. It was a steely glint in his dark green eyes that said underestimate me and you die. She had only caught that look twice, but it made a distinct impression on her. She had a feeling that Shuichi was more dangerous than he let on. Marika had always felt that Shuichi was a bit like a cornered animal. He was harmless in most situations, but when pushed to fight, he made certain that his enemy was the one with his face in the dust.

He looked slightly hurt by her anger, and though his eyes were soft and well-intentioned at the moment, she felt that at any time they would become hostile. With this in mind, she moved to alleviate the sting from her earlier words. "It's just a book for my sister. Dull as a doornail though."

"You must be a devoted sister to spend so much time on it," Shuichi said. Yes, even though she had known him now for over three months, Shuichi was still a mystery to Marika. And while she was often attracted to men of mystery, she was smart enough to know that this one was off-limits. Besides, she had her eye on some other prospects at school. Not that she had that much time to date anyway. In fact, if she cared to think about it - which she didn't - she hadn't been on a date since she was fifteen.

Thankfully, at that moment, a customer came in from the rain, bringing with him almost as much water as he left outside. Marika left her book behind the counter, out of sight of Shuichi, and went to the front of the store to help the man find whatever it was he was looking for.

Sadly, though, it seemed he was only there to take shelter from the rain. It was only four thirty; Marika still had half an hour of boredom left before she could head out into the rain for herself and go home. Normally she loved the rain, but something about today's storm looked deadly. The clouds crackled with a kind of purple energy that sent shivers up and down her spine. The man soon went back out into the street, pulling up the collar on his jacket. The rain came down so violently that it bounced up off the road and came down again, making it seem as if there was much more rain than there actually was. The city would be flooded for days. Marika was glad she had worn her rain boots today.

Marika did not know how long she stood by the door after the customer had gone. There was something mesmerizing about watching the rain flood down from the sky and create a torrent of churning water in the neat, man-made channel of the road. She half-wanted to run out into the rain and dance in it, though she knew she couldn't, seeing as how she was at work. Also, something about the water seemed wrong, dangerous even. She was glad for the roof over her head at that moment. She stood there for a long time, slowly braiding her long, dark brown hair to pass the time.

She felt Shuichi move from behind the counter before she heard his footsteps. Marika didn't particularly want to talk to him though. She was bored, but she wasn't bored enough to want to spend time with Shuichi. She walked around the back of the shelves of shoes, pretending to check and see if they needed restocking, and eventually made her way back behind the counter again.

Shuichi paid her no mind. He was still standing in front of the door, watching the rain just as she had through the glass window. Marika hoped that Kaiya had made it home alright. Hopefully one of her teachers had driven her home, or her physical therapist, who she usually saw after school. It was not safe for a blind girl to walk home alone.

Marika had never gotten used to the idea that her sister was blind. Even from the first day, when she had come home from the arcade to find that her mother and sister were in the emergency room, she had felt that it had to be a joke. It felt like a dream. Kaiya had only been cleaning the bathroom when Marika left; what could be dangerous about that?

Of course, they had both been told by their mother to clean that day, but Marika had convinced her sister to let her go out to the arcade instead. As she was leaving the house, she had felt guilty, but she had never expected the disaster that followed. She should have stayed there that day. If she was not so selfish, she wouldn't have gone and left her sister to this fate.

The circumstances of the accident were never fully understood. Kaiya didn't remember, and no one else had been around. Their mother had heard a loud noise and went to investigate. She found Kaiya unconscious on the floor, a bottle of strong household cleaner in her hand. The bottle had been blown apart from the inside and the acidic liquid was all over her sister's face. But even as her mother had cleaned off the other parts of Kaiya's skin, she had not known that her sister's eyes had been exposed to the chemicals.

When they reached the emergency room where both their mother and father were well-known since they were surgeons in the main hospital, the doctors had tried to control the damage done to her eyes. But it had been too long and the chemicals had been allowed to fester, slowly corroding the lenses. They had called it a stage four burn and given their apologies to Marika's mother. Kaiya was blind.

It had taken a year for the whites of her sister's eyes to lose their ugly, red color. Now, four years later, the only external sign that remained of the trauma was a white film over her sister's dark brown eyes and a slight yellowing of her iris that they said would never go away. The doctors said she would never see again, but Marika could not accept that fact. She would find a way to fix her mistake, even if it cost her everything.

She heard a small sound of surprise behind her. She hadn't noticed Shuichi walking back, too absorbed in her own thoughts to continue to avoid him. He asked, "What is that?"

She didn't know what he was talking about at first. Then she looked down and realized that she had been drawing on a piece of old receipt paper. She didn't know how long she had been doing that, but her drawing was very far along. Of course, it wasn't surprising that Shuichi couldn't tell what it was; it took her a moment to figure it out for herself.

Drawing was something she did in her spare time, though she wasn't artistic in the slightest. Kaiya was, but after her accident, her ability to make her visions come to life had been all-but taken away from her. No matter how much she tried to draw, Marika could not give that back to her sister.

This drawing was of a bear on its hind legs, or maybe it was a person. Yes, she thought it was a person. But for some reason, this person had three eyes. And next to this weird alien was some kind of squiggle. It was a loop that looked as if it had two heads or maybe two tails. The only things that gave a clue to the fact that it was some kind of animal were four stumpy blocks that were supposed to be feet. She didn't know what had possessed her to draw such strange things. Perhaps boredom caused a kind of insanity. But the figures did seem familiar, if very badly represented. Marika couldn't quite place where they had come from. Were they from a television show? Or some kind of book?

Shuichi had a calculating look in his eyes that sent a shiver down Marika's spine. She supposed she should answer, not that it was any of his business what she doodled. "A three-eyed alien and a cat. No wait, I think it's a fox. Or maybe a wolf."

Shuichi laughed light-heartedly, but the emotion did not reach his eyes. "It would have taken me a thousand guesses to get it right. Perhaps you should leave art to people who are more suited to it."

"You just wait, Minamino Shuichi, I will steal all of your illustrious honors in art," Marika said. Shuichi was an architecture major and had drawn a lot of attention through his art. It was another reason that his preference for males was so painfully obvious. Straight men were not interested in art. Why were the attractive ones either gay or jerks? It was not fair.

"It's true, you are much more creative than me," he said. "I prefer to draw things that are more concrete. Your imagination must be very great for you to think of such things as aliens and foxes."

Marika couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. It was a good thing she didn't care. "Do you really think it's a fox? I am leaning more towards coyote."

"Like in those American westerns?" Shuichi laughed. "Yes, you are probably right."

Marika thought about it some more. Perhaps she had seen an American western about aliens. No, that couldn't be right. She hadn't gone to the movies in a long time. Not since before the accident. She didn't have time now for much more than work and school. And she definitely couldn't let Kaiya just go out on her own. Or stay home without their parents there. And even when their parents were home – which wasn't often because they worked long hours – they didn't know how to handle their daughter anymore. Only Marika cared enough to find ways to deal with her sister now. Kaiya responded badly to most people.

No, it didn't seem like it had come from anything of that sort. But it seemed so familiar. Then she remembered where she had seen those images. It was a dream she'd had months ago of a short, black-haired, three-eyed man in strange clothes. There had been a girl there, too, who had brown hair, funny-looking ears, and a tail. She had transformed into a fox made of energy for a brief moment and then back into the strange-looking girl. She looked at the picture again. Yes, now that she thought about it, it was very accurate - or as much as she ever was with her drawings. But there was something wrong about the alien. Shuichi was still examining the doodle, but she took it out of his hands and made two extra marks to the paper.

"There," she said, handing it back to her co-worker. Now the alien had two angry-looking eyebrows above his two natural eyes. The third eye hovered above them like something out of a science-fiction show. She began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Shuichi asked her.

"His eyes look like misshapen lemons," she said. It was five until five now: almost time to go out into the weather and face the elements. Calming down, she said to Shuichi, "I hope that my coat is still waterproof."

"Are you walking in this?" Shuichi sounded much more concerned than the situation called for.

Marika shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It'll be fine. It's not too far."

"I could give you a ride home if you wish," Shuichi offered.

"Yeah, no offense, but I would rather get the exercise," Marika told him. She got her coat on.

"I insist." Something in his voice made her turn around. His eyes were hard as crystal, their unusual green color sharp and dangerous. She felt as if she were being evaluated as a threat. It was a great change from the friendly man who had been standing there a minute ago. His long, unnaturally red hair was the same, and his face still had the same softness to it. But his eyes had changed. Crumpling up the scrap of paper that held the offensive doodle and throwing it in the trash can as if it were nothing, she met his gaze as steadily as she could, trying to ignore the strange fear shivering down her spine.

"Yes, well, I suppose that would be okay, Minamino-san," Marika said formally. "We have to close now anyway."

It was now five o'clock. They pulled down the shutters and swept the floors, getting each of their things and going out the back door into the pouring rain.

The wind was awful, but the rain didn't get on her because Shuichi lent her his umbrella. Marika wondered why it didn't flip inside out because of how strong the wind was, but she didn't question it. She felt the energy of the rain more acutely than ever now that she was surrounded by it. She was glad when they reached his car. It wasn't parked too far away from the building, but it seemed like much longer of a walk because they could both hardly see anything.

Marika got into the car as quickly as she could and slammed the door shut behind her. Shuichi did the same. His hair was soaked through and he shivered slightly as though he had a cold. His skin was washed out and he was breathing heavily like he had just run a great distance.

"Are you okay, Minamino-san?" Marika asked. He simply smiled and looked at her.

"I have been through much worse than this. I just need a moment and I'll be fine," he told her.

He seemed weaker, and not just because he looked so tired. Some of the energy he had exuded when he had convinced her to let him drive her home was gone. That was silly though; it wasn't as if the rain could have really weakened him. It was just rain after all, no matter how unsettling the purplish clouds had become.

Shuichi started up the car after another minute went by. He looked slightly back to normal, though she couldn't see his eyes to be sure.

"You'll need to give me directions," he said. "I'm afraid I don't quite know where I am going."

Marika told him to head west on the main road. Her parents' house was in a more rural part of the suburbs. It was a half-hour away from the hospital, which was why they rarely came home during the day. Unless they had several hours of break-time, it was useless for them to try and make the journey home and back because it took an hour round-trip. From the shoe store it was only about a ten-minute drive. They had moved to that house, not because of its proximity to the hospital, but because it was only a block or two away from the school for the blind that Kaiya attended.

Marika gave Shuichi a quick run-down on the turns he would have to make. He simply nodded, still looking tired. They did not talk for a few minutes, but during this time, Marika sensed that Shuichi was coming back to himself. She did not know how she knew, but it was quite obvious to her that he was recovering from whatever the rain had done to him. Perhaps he had asthma or a severe phobia of water. Kaiya could certainly relate if he was afraid of water, though to Marika it seemed a rather silly thing to be afraid of.

"And you wanted to walk home in this?" Shuichi asked after a while. "It would have taken you a half-hour or more to get home."

"I like the exercise," Marika said defensively. "What are legs good for if not for walking?"

"If you want, I could start giving you a ride home after work," Shuichi offered. "I have nothing against an active lifestyle, but I don't think it is safe for a young girl like yourself to be out on the streets alone."

"It's not a bad part of town," Marika argued. "It's perfectly safe. Plus, I usually have to pick up my sister after work. I don't want to put you through any trouble."

"It's no trouble," Shuichi said. "I can pick up your sister too."

"If you are really set on it, I guess you can," Marika said apathetically.

"Good, then it is settled," Shuichi said as he pulled up to her family's wooden, two-story house. Marika saw the back of her sister's head in the window. That meant she was safe. Marika let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

Her sister sat, trying to paint as she usually did after she came home from school. Kaiya had really been a talent before her accident, and the ground floor of their house was covered in her sister's paintings from those days. It was a sad reminder of what her sister could have been if she had not been blind.

Marika put her book about eyesight into her backpack. She did not want to upset Kaiya by letting it slip that she held out hope for curing her blindness. Though her sister could not see, knowing Marika's luck, her parents would see the book and mention it to her. That is, if they ever came home.

"Thank you for the ride, Minamino," she told him as she prepared to get out of the car.

"Please, call me Shuichi," he said. "And take the umbrella. You can give it back to me later."

She did as he asked and got inside the house safely. She waved at him in the car to show him that it was okay to drive away, but he had already started to back out. She shook her head. She could not comprehend this change in him. He had rarely talked so much to her in one day before, not to mention the fact that he had agreed to drive her home every day. He was queer, and not just because he liked men.

Her parents were not home yet, but that was unsurprising. She heard a crash from overhead. Immediately worried, she moved to go upstairs, only to run into her sister, who was heading for the backdoor.

"Kaiya, wait, you can't go outside," Marika told her, worry seeping into her voice.

"I need to," Kaiya said, her unfocused eyes lightly sparking with frustration as she took off her slippers, tossing them in the direction of the door. "Why can't I?"

"It's pouring rain outside," Marika told her.

"No it's not," Kaiya said. Marika crossed over to the window as her sister brushed past her and went out the door. It was not raining anymore and, even more strangely, the sky had returned to a clear shade of blue. The clouds looked harmless and full, as if the storm had never happened.

Can today get any stranger? Marika thought.

Armadilllo: Yes, yes it can.

Panda: Look at that grammar. It is so pretty.

Armadilllo: Lol, commas are a good thing.

Panda: Yes. I love commas that are used properly almost as much as I love Hiei. But anyway, we have a preview for you. Before I share it, I will tell you where these previews came from. When we were planning the story, I took notes in the form of a timeline in a notebook. The notes are small because I didn't want to use up more than one line.

Preview for chapter two, Running Pixies:

Paint; woods.

Armadilllo: Kent Williams would have done much better. (He is the narrator in the show, for those of you who don't watch credits.)

Panda: Or who don't pay attention to voice actor names. So, this story will be updated every Saturday. Reliably. And, just like everyone else on this website, we would love to get some reviews! See you then!

C. E. Taylor and G. E. Hemmy

P.S. I said at one point that this story was called Heart of Life. That was a lie. The trilogy is called Heart of Life. The story is called Heart of Life: Alea Iacta Est. I apologize for any confusion.