Never Make a Promise
Disclaimer: YU YU HAKUSHO/YU YU HAKUSHO: Ghost Files, all characters, likenesses and related indicia are owned by Yoshihiro Togashi, Viz Media, Studio Pierrot, and Funimation Entertainment. Enjoy this story, but please also go support the official release. :)
Author's Note: Hey, everybody! This is my very FIRST fanfic in quite a long time! I actually used to write Michael Jackson fanfic some years back, but now I've returned-inspired by my new-found addiction to YU YU HAKUSHO (specifically my rockin' on the YusKei ship)! Though this isn't my first fic overall, this is in fact my first YYH fic AND it's my first time publishing on an actual fanfic website. My MJ fic was on an MJ forum so the rules were a bit different. ;) Also...there simply ISN'T enough YusKei fics out there that's to my liking as I quickly found out in my search for some. So why not offer a solution and write one myself? I'll keep things short for now by testing the waters with this two-shot. I hope you enjoy it! Let's GO!
*YYH*
I'll never forget that night...
(Flashback)
Keiko was upstairs studying hard for her exams, but barely able to focus...all she could think about was Yusuke. She could feel her heartstrings being pulled every which way inside her chest and her stomach sinking the more she thought about the fact that he was leaving...maybe never to return again.
Keiko stared blankly down at her textbook for only God knew how long, her hand jotting notes automatically... She snapped out of her self-induced trance when she heard her father yelling upstairs for her to come down.
"Hey Keiko, get down here! We got a special customer!" Keiko huffed out a quick breath in annoyance. She thought she made it clear how important her studies were, especially with the exams looming ever more closely...plus, wasn't it past closing time?
Keiko was taken aback when she blinked down at her notes only to realize that she had been writing..."Yusuke, please don't go. Yusuke, please don't go. Yusuke, please don't go," over and over again all the way down the page. Keiko choked back the tears that threatened to fall and she pushed herself away and up from her desk with a thought of defiance to herself, Keiko...GET IT TOGETHER. This is nothing new. If Yusuke wants to leave...then...just let him go.
"Yeah, let him go," she said in a shaky whisper, thinking that maybe if she expressed this particular thought aloud, she would do a better job of convincing herself.
"Hey, Keiko! Get your butt down here right away!" her father yelled, beckoning for her to come down again. Keiko shook her head once more, partly because of her father's incessant yelling but mostly because she tried to clear her mind of its current train (wreck) of thought.
Keiko left her room, padded quickly down the steps and whipped open the short blue curtains in the doorway that separated the restaurant from the house. "I'm trying to do my homework, Dad!"
Mr. Yukimura, who was standing behind the front counter, furrowed his dark brows and fired back, "If getting into that school means turning your back on your old man, you don't need high school anyway! Look, it's your friend Yusuke!"
Keiko had to strain to keep both her gasp of surprise and her eyes from widening when she realized who the "special customer" was. Right on beat, when Yusuke turned to look in her direction, she had managed to plaster on a blank expression as she stiffly, almost robotically walked behind the counter.
"You interrupted my studying for him?" Keiko asked flatly; she made a point in keeping her back turned to Yusuke. He had some nerve showing up unannounced like this. Mr. Yukimura, completely oblivious to his daughter's dry demeanor continued, "He wants an order of grilled beef with rice an-"
"I know what he wants," Keiko muttered, cutting across her father. She tried her hardest to remain cold and aloof as she watched her hands work to prepare the meal for the loser sitting quietly behind her. No matter how icy she tried to make herself seem, Keiko could still feel the heat of Yusuke's steady gaze spread from the back of her head all the way down to the heels of her feet. As the slices of beef sizzled with every shift of the spatula, Keiko could't help but wonder...
What is he doing here?
Before Keiko's mind could drift any further in that direction, Mr. Yukimura derailed her train of thought once again when he blurted out-
"Watch it sweetie, or you'll burn it! If you keep cooking like that, no man will ever want to marry you." Keiko's right hand twitched at his words and she quietly grit her teeth. She took a silent sip of breath in and just as quietly released it. Keiko had to control her reactions so as to not disrespect her father...but he was being obnoxious at this point.
"How enlightened of you," Keiko replied, her tone laced with sarcasm.
"Now your mother, she can cook-"
"Please, not now, Dad." said Keiko, hoping that the insulting exchange would end right then and there. She could feel her face heating up, blending seamlessly with the heat she still felt from Yusuke's gaze. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she came downstairs. Keiko didn't need to look at him to know this. The feelings were enough. She couldn't bear the embarrassment of her father criticizing her cooking in front of Yusuke, or anyone for that matter. But...especially Yusuke.
Keiko was more than grateful when the food was finished. She hurriedly poured the miso soup into one bowl, scooped the white rice into a second bowl, then finally placed the strips of grilled meat alongside a fresh salad on a plate. Keiko put all the food onto a serving tray and made her way back around the counter. She huffed out a sigh as she slammed the tray down in front of Yusuke a little more forcefully than she meant to. "Here's your food," she said as she flattened her voice back to monotone and continued to avert her eyes from Yusuke's. "Enjoy! Don't choke on it."
Now that the worst part was over, Keiko was determined to turn and walk away, go back upstairs and resume her futile efforts in studying. But before Keiko could even take a literal half step in her plan, she felt a warm, firm hand grasp her forearm, rooting her on the spot.
Yusuke finally spoke his first words to Keiko since he set foot into the restaurant. "I'd enjoy it more if you sat with me."
His touch sent an electrifying sensation through her entire body, most of the said sensation shot straight to the center of her chest before continuing upward to her face, threatening to color it a flaming red. But Keiko managed to keep her composure and she finally turned around to face the raven-haired boy.
"Why?"
Yusuke, still holding onto Keiko chuckled lightly and replied, "Just because, okay?"
And just like that, Keiko found herself pulling out an empty chair at the table and making her way to sit next to Yusuke; it was only then he finally let her arm go. No matter how turbulent her feelings were, she just couldn't manage to turn him down.
Keiko, get it together...you're supposed to be mad at him. Don't let him get in your head, she desperately told herself. In order to help herself with this silent cause, Keiko leaned her elbow on the table, rested her head in her hand and offered Yusuke her back again as he reached across her to grab a set of chopsticks.
"This looks great!" Yusuke exclaimed as he dug hungrily into his plate and tossed a piece of grilled beef into his mouth. His taste buds were instantly overwhelmed with an array of flavors from onion to garlic to...one more distinct spice that he couldn't place. Yusuke had eaten at the restaurant plenty of times over the years, but there was something different about the way his favorite dish was prepared. "This is the best food I ever tasted in my life!"
Keiko wasn't buying it. Yusuke knew damn well that he had eaten her food on more than one occasion. She figured he was trying to ease his way back onto her good side...especially since they hadn't seen each other since she ran off from him earlier that day by the lake. She had thought that after she left him lying in the grass after a failed attempt to mollify her would be her last time seeing Yusuke. But now, as she sat silently clinging onto her indignant front for dear life, Keiko couldn't help but feel like she should have realized that she was dead wrong. Be strong, Keiko...don't give in...
"Can I go now, Dad?" she finally said, ignoring Yusuke's compliment. Mr. Yukimura, who was washing dishes, caught on to what was happening in the empty restaurant. Ah, must be another one of those days, he thought to himself; so Mr. Yukimura opted to stay silent.
"Want some?" Yusuke asked, holding out a piece of meat on his chopsticks to the girl who was giving him the cold shoulder. Keiko had closed her eyes at this point, in hopes that seeing nothing but the black underneath her eyelids would somehow help control the roiling of her emotions.
"Want some what?" she shot back, knowing full well she could smell the beef she just cooked near her face as Yusuke offered it to her.
"Your loss," Yusuke sighed. After a beat, he decided to press forward in striking up a conversation with Keiko. "Uh so, Keiko, you know tomorrow is my birthday, right?"
"Yeah, I knew that," she replied, still unmoving from her position in her seat.
"So uh..."
"'So' what?"
"So by my eighteenth birthday I'll be back here. I will find a way, I promise you."
Keiko could hear the sudden shift in Yusuke's tone. It was...softer, more tender, more...thoughtful and sincere. Her eyes flew open, her heart dared to inflate with something resembling hope and against her better judgement, she turned towards Yusuke full of curiosity and asked, "And then what?"
Yusuke paused for a second; to Keiko, it was a second that seemed to stretch across all eternity. But before she could do or say anything more, Yusuke suddenly dropped his chopsticks, swung around in his seat and grabbed Keiko's forearms again. Keiko's heart raced when she found deep, mahogany eyes staring her down with more seriousness blazing in them than she had ever seen in her entire life.
Yusuke's hands slid gently up and blanketed her own. His gaze never wavered. What was the deal? What did she expect him to say next? Just about ANYTHING, right? ANYTHING but-
"Then let's get married."
Dead silence rang out as Yusuke's words hung in the air. Keiko couldn't believe what she just heard; she couldn't help but let a small gasp pass her lips as she stared wide-eyed at Yusuke. Now her heart began to beat triple-time the longer they sat facing each other. If her body heat rose any further, Keiko was sure that she'd burst into flames on the spot. Yusuke...
He had yet to blink and she could feel his hands squeeze hers a little more.
And that's how they sat...
...until Keiko's mind slowly drifted back down from the clouds and into this harsh reality. Yusuke was leaving. There was absolutely no point in getting her hopes up, and she felt silly for even allowing herself to react that way.
Keiko briefly broke eye contact as she released a heavy sigh. "Yusuke, I don't know how my new...boyfriend is going to feel about that."
Then right at that moment, Mr. Yukimura's hearty laughter suddenly filled the restaurant. He turned to look at the two teenagers sitting at the table behind him still holding hands and said, "Been a while since the last time I heard one of Yusuke's proposals!"
Keiko flushed and she could feel cracks forming across the surface of her heart in spiderweb patterns. Mr. Yukimura rambled on with rolling chuckles, "He used to play that card every time you two had an argument as kids!"
And that's when Yusuke's face finally broke into his signature wide grin as he chuckled in response to Mr. Yukimura's fond reminiscence. This only made Keiko feel all the more foolish. She pulled her hands away from Yusuke's, cut him the side-eye and said almost disparagingly, "You haven't changed."
"I'm serious, three years and I'll be back and we'll get married," said Yusuke, sounding too sure of himself. Keiko still wasn't buying it.
"I don't know, buddy, I'm going into high school. A lot can happen in that time." She couldn't stand it anymore. She could no longer bear being in Yusuke's presence, especially after...what he just said. She abruptly stood up from the table and walked away from him without another word.
At least a silent exit was her intention until she heard-
"Keiko, you know I love you right?"
The words were out of her mouth before she even realized it, "Yeah, yeah, me too."
And back up the stairs she went. As Keiko retreated into the darkness of the stairway and headed back towards her bedroom, she could hear her father's laughter roar on until she was safely on the other side of her closed door.
She stood in the dark room, lit blue only from the light of the night outside her window. She slowly walked over to her desk and sat before her medium-sized mirror. Why couldn't she control the beating of her heart? Surely, she couldn't have still been feeling this way because of Yusuke's..."proposal," right? He had proposed to her countless times before all through their childhood, just as Mr. Yukimura said. But...there was something DIFFERENT this time in the way Yusuke went about "making up" with her. His steady, intense stare flashed across her mind's eye. Keiko truly didn't know what to do or how to feel. First she found out that boy she grew up with was in fact a descendant of a demon, then she found out that he was leaving and might not even come back. Why did everything have to be so complicated? She leaned forward, rested her hands on either side of her face and sighed. The eyes of the girl that stared back at her from the mirror were shining with tears of misery that had yet to fall. The longer she sat this way, the more reality seemed to catch up to her.
Yusuke was leaving. An uncomfortable throb reverberated through her chest as this fact resurfaced in her mind. Yes, he was leaving...but...another potential reality crept up from the edges of her imagination and vied for dominance inside her head.
"Then let's get married..."
Married...to Yusuke?
The sudden loud clanging of the restaurant's metal gate sliding up then down again startled Keiko. She turned towards her one of her windows and peered through the curtains. She spotted Yusuke strolling away down the sidewalk with his hands tucked inside his jacket pockets. He was leaving...
Leaving...
Even though Keiko knew the sight of Yusuke's retreating back should have evoked a stronger reaction of sadness from her, she couldn't help but feel a quiet sort of calm wash over her, claim her spirit and for some reason she then felt like there was no real reason to feel down after all. Why?
Yusuke, she said silently as she stared longingly at the reflected streetlights glinting from Yusuke's dark hair, Just give me a sign that everything's gonna be alright.
She stood in the window and raised her eyebrows quizzically when she saw Yusuke slow his walk to a stop. She watched him as he pulled his right hand out of his pocket, raised his arm in the air and briefly waved. Keiko's mouth fell agape for Yusuke had never turned to look back; he simply slipped his hand back into his pocket and walked on. Keiko stood right where she was and watched his figure shrink smaller and smaller until he was finally out of sight.
Keiko released a small sigh, which was more like a breath of relief. There was hope after all.
That was her sign.
*YYH*
Author's Note: So, how'd you like that? As you can see, I have elements from Episode 97 all up and through here! ^_^ You gotta understand...that restaurant scene was my absolute FAVORITE scene that I EVER saw in ANY ANIME I've ever watched in my ENTIRE LIFE! And THAT'S saying something! I swear, I ship Yusuke and Keiko so HARD it's ridiculous! At first I was hesitant about jumping back into the fanfic game, but once I finally decided to jump right in, naturally an idea for this episode came to mind. That scene was so classic all on its own, but I wanted to fill in the blanks for myself from Keiko's third-person perpective (even though the very first sentence IS first-person, ha ha). If you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review! Tell me how you feel! And I hope you come back for the second half of the story. STAY TUNED! ;-)