From Kuwabara's Ashes Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
A/N: So this is the new version of my fic previously called Brought Together By Tragedy. I started it about three years ago and recently got back to my fanfiction. I really enjoy the fic, but I don't like some of the things I did with it when I first started writing it. I just decided to tear it down and start it all over again. I wanted to make things move a bit faster between Kurama and Yukina and make them a little realistic. If you're someone who read this story the first time, you'll notice a lot of similarities in the first few chapters, but it should get very different later on. So I hope you enjoy it!
The air was thick with sorrow and the sound of sobbing could be heard from every point in the cemetery. The grey cloudy sky reflected the gloomy mood of the inhabitants and it threatened to release its own tears on the mourners. Today they were honoring Kazuma Kuwabara. His death had come as shock to everyone, but especially to the spirit detectives and those who knew of his work with them. Kuwabara had been walking home from school a few days earlier, and had met up with some thugs from another school. They had attacked him because they knew he was a good fighter from the rival school. He hadn't fought them back and tried to escape without doing them too much harm, but one of the boys had a gun concealed under his clothes. By the time he pulled the gun out and shot Kuwabara, it was too late for him to defend himself from them. Someone had called the ambulance and the police upon hearing a gunshot nearby, but when the authorities arrived on the scene the boys had escaped and Kuwabara was close to dying with little chance of survival. He knew that death was close so he told the paramedics the description of his attackers, and then he told them, "Tell Yukina that I love her, and to never forget me, but to keep moving on in her life and find someone else who will make her happy." He died in the hospital later that day of gunshot related wounds.
Now three spirit detectives stood at a cemetery watching the ceremony proceeding the scattering of Kuwabara's ashes. They stood in a circle a little ways away from the rest of the mourners who had gathered around the priest. Kurama was wearing a black blazer over a dark blue sweater and a pair of cream pants. Yusuke had put on an old ragged black suit he had rented just for the funeral, and Hiei was wearing his usual black cloak.
"Damn it Kuwabara, why'd you have to die?" Yusuke asked with his fists clenched and tears streaming down his face. The other two spirit detectives said nothing. Neither of them had cried, but they both wore forlorn, bitter expressions. Everyone felt as though they were responsible for Kuwabara's death. They felt as though they should have been watching him, should've been there to save him. It didn't make sense to any of them. Kuwabara had been a skilled fighter who had faced a myriad of lethal demon foes and had survived. It was believable that he would try to escape without harming the boys who had ambushed him, but it was hard to imagine him not being able to leave with his life.
Hiei observed the other mourners. Shizuru had let a few tears trickle down her face while her mother was sobbing freely and being comforted by her husband. Botan was crying too, but he knew that this was probably nothing compared to how she cried when she took Kuwabara's soul to spirit world, and Keiko stood next to her also crying. At last Hiei's ruby red eyes fell on his twin sister, Yukina. He saw that she was crying too and her tears turned to gems before they hit the ground. He was over next to her before she could blink and shed any more tears.
"He wouldn't want you crying over him, you know," Hiei said with the softness in his gruff voice that only came when he was speaking to his sister.
"You're right Hiei, but this is just so awful. First I'm exiled out of the ice world and then Kazuma dies," Yukina said sadly while looking down at the ground.
"You were exiled from the ice world?" Hiei asked his eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, the elders found out that I had run away to look for my brother. That in itself is a crime, but they may have given me a lesser punishment considering the circumstances, but then they found out that I had fallen in love with Kazuma, and that's strictly forbidden. They worried that I would become just like my mother, and one day bare a child that could also lead to their destruction, just as they fear my brother will do. They had no choice but to exile me," Yukina said sadly looking at the ground.
"They would really do that?" Botan asked with both surprise and horror in her voice.
"Yes," Hiei answered coldly.
"Oh how awful!" Botan exclaimed.
"I'm not mad at them, nor do I resent them, because it's just their laws, but I do hope my brother finds them and drives them to extinction. If they feel that living in isolation is the best course of action, then they don't deserve to live," Yukina didn't say this in a cold or angry way but Botan looked a little shocked to hear the sweet girl say such a thing, but Shizuru, upon hearing the statement, nodded her head in agreement.
"So where are you going to live now?" Kurama's voice made them all jump. No one had noticed that he and Yusuke had walked up behind them after Hiei and had been listening the whole time. Kurama had voiced the very thing that Hiei had been pondering since he learned that Yukina had been exiled. She couldn't live in the demon world; although she was not weak there were plenty of greedy demons out there who would want her for her tears. Demons were not allowed to stay permanently in the spirit world, but there was no place for her in the human world.
"You should probably stay in the human world," Yusuke suggested.
"Yes, that's what I was thinking as I've been wandering around the human world for the past few days, but I don't know where I would stay and I don't want to be a burden to anyone," Yukina mumbled quietly. There was a short silence while everyone thought about where Yukina could reside. It wasn't as though any of them wouldn't be more than happy to help out the small ice apparition, but their families posed a bit of a conundrum. Yusuke doubted very much that Yukina would want to stay in a home where the mother partied hard and was hung over a lot, Shizuru and her parents might remind Yukina of Kuwabara too much, and Keiko's parents were so busy with their restaurant that they didn't have time for a guest. That left only one person.
"You could stay with me," Kurama offered.
"Are you sure Kurama?" Yukina asked. Kurama glanced over at Hiei. He didn't do anything at first, but then he nodded in approval. Kurama was the closest thing Hiei would ever have to a best friend and he knew that Kurama wouldn't do anything to harm Yukina, but he didn't trust almost anyone when it came to his sister, and Kurama did not want to make an enemy of his friend.
"Yes Yukina, I'm sure." Kurama stated reassuringly with a nod of his head.
"So it's decided then, Yukina will stay with Kurama," Botan said clasping her hands together decisively.
Just as the decision was made, the priest announced that it was time for the scattering of the ashes. Each person in attendance took a handful of Kuwabara's ashes from the urn and tossed them to the wind in the graveyard. Yukina cried the hardest during this part of the ceremony. At first it was hard for her to understand. She felt it the activity had cruel implications. It was almost as though she were throwing away the person she had once been attached to. But being cremated had been Kazuma's wish, and the paramedics had passed along his final message to her. His words were ringing in her head. "Tell Yukina that I love her, and to never forget me, but to keep moving on in her life and to find someone else who makes her happy." Yukina pondered his words and tried to focus on how she would honor his dying wish. Yukina would of course never forget the strange human boy who had brought her so much joy, but it was hard for her to move forward after losing her home and her love. She knew that she had no choice, as life always moved forward. So that just left the last part. Finding someone else who made her happy. She could not imagine finding another romantic interest, but as she looked around her, she realized that she was surrounded by people who made her happy, and whether she was ready or not, she would be starting a new life with those people. A life that would rise from Kuwabara's ashes. Yukina thought as she finally let go of the ashes that she had been cradling in her palm.
After the funeral service and the traditional meal held afterward was over, Kurama and Yukina started the walk to Kurama's house. Kurama had been holding a black umbrella at his side the entire time because of the cloudy sky and now it started to rain. He pulled the umbrella open and held it over Yukina's head. "Here," He said with a warm smile.
"No, you should use it Kurama. I don't want you to get cold and wet because of me." Yukina replied. Kurama chuckled slightly at how sweet the ice apparition was.
"No, I'm fine. I've got my blazer on. Besides, I couldn't let you not have it or my mother would probably never let me in the house again," Kurama responded. His human mother had raised him to be quite the gentleman.
"Thank you Kurama," Yukina said. She started to look off into the distance as she walked. Kurama could tell she was deep in thought. "She's probably still thinking about getting exiled and mourning the loss of Kuwabara." He thought. He wanted to say something, anything to break the silence and help distract her from the things that were bothering her, but he couldn't think of what to say. After a few more minutes of walking in silence Kurama suddenly remembered something that he had forgotten to tell Yukina.
"I almost forgot, when you're around my mother or anyone else that I know in the human world you'll have to call me Suuichi," Kurama said tossing his slightly damp red hair over his shoulder with his free hand. About ten minutes later they had reached the Minamino residence. Kurama pulled his house key out of his pocket and opened the door which he held open for Yukina. The two of them walked inside and took their shoes off by the door.
"Mother isn't home yet, but when she gets home I'll explain everything to her. Here, I'll show you around the house," With that said Kurama gave Yukina a tour of his house. It was a small house, which made it easier for Yukina to remember where everything was, but it had that nice cozy feeling.
"This is the guest room where you'll be staying. It used to belong to my younger step brother, but he is living with his own mother right now. My step father is usually away at work, so you won't run into him around here much," Kurama explained as he opened the door to a cozy looking room. The room had white walls and wood flooring. There was a tan dresser next to a small one person sized bed with a blue bed spread, and the bed was pushed up against a large window that had several beautiful potted plants on the window sill. Yukina eyed the plants suspiciously and Kurama noticed this and smiled.
"Don't worry, they're not Makai plants so they won't harm you,"
"Oh, all right," Yukina answered. She walked over to the window and reached out and touched the petals on one of the plants. "Did you grow this yourself?" Yukina inquired.
"Yes,"
"They're very beautiful,"
"Thank you," Kurama watched Yukina admire his plants and he smiled slightly. He was pleased to see something he had created give Yukina a few moments of comfort from her melancholy thoughts. "I guess I had better let you make yourself at home. I'll give Botan a call and see if she can arrange a day in her schedule to take you shopping with the girls for some more human looking clothes to wear. You'll also need to pick up a school uniform while you're out.
"School uniform?" Yukina asked in a confused tone.
"Yes, unfortunately you will have to attend school while you're here in order to maintain the false idea that you're human, but don't worry. You'll be in the same grade as me so I can help you out, Kurama said gently giving Yukina a reassuring smile.
"Oh," Yukina replied. She wasn't really sure what to think about the idea of going to school.
"I know you need to get settled and I'm sure today has taken a lot out of you. I'll be back up later to inform you of when dinner is ready," Kurama said sympathetically as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Yukina sat on her new bed and stared out the window. The rain had almost stopped and now it was sprinkling lightly. The sky was still grey, but not as though it was about to storm. It had turned out to be a fairly peaceful day. Yukina sighed and closed her eyes. This world was going to be very different. Eventually, Yukina fell asleep. At first she dreamt of going to human school and making new friends there. In her dream she was talking and laughing and smiling again. It had started out as a very good dream. Then suddenly, her dream took a turn for the worst. She was back in her home, in the ice world. She was standing in front of the elders.
"Yukina, you have disobeyed our laws. We know what you did. First you ran away from this world to go and find your brother, and you didn't even ask for our permission," The oldest of the elders said. Rui was watching from a distance and she started to cry. She had now seen two people that she had loved stand in front of this elder. Yukina, who was like a niece to her, and her best friend, Hina, and she had the feeling that this wasn't going to end in Yukina's favor.
"I did not mean to disobey your laws, but you have to understand, he's the only family I have left, and all I wanted to do was see him once. I just wanted to know what my brother was like. Get to know my family. I had no intention of bringing him back here," Yukina said softly.
"So you are saying that Rui here, who was kind enough to raise you like her own daughter, isn't good enough?" The elder asked coldly.
"No, Miss Rui has been very kind to me, and I'm grateful for that, but she is not my blood relative," Yukina said. She glanced over at Rui. Rui nodded as if she understood.
"Regardless of your intentions you know that you're not supposed to leave this world without the permission of the elders. You knew you were breaking the rules Yukina. We have these rules to keep our society safe! Your mother broke our rules too and now her son the imiko will slaughter us all! But he doesn't know where our village is! Now because of you he probably knows! Tell me, Yukina, did you find him?" The elder finally asked after all her cold remarks. The flames of the fire that she and the other elders were standing around danced in her eyes.
Yukina thought about it for a moment. She had not found her brother for sure, but she felt as though Hiei was the closest thing she could have to a brother, and she had her suspicions."Yes, yes, I did, but I did not show him where the village is or tell him anything about it," Yukina said bravely. She looked the elder straight in the eyes. She was not afraid of them.
"Even if you did not tell him anything about us, you have fallen in love with a man. Yes, we found out about him. Kazuma Kuwabara, I believe his name is. Ever since your mother we've always had someone keep an eye on you. Falling in love with a man is against our rules. You could make the same mistake as your mother and someday bare a child that could aid the imiko in our demise. You know the punishment is death," The elder said without emotion.
"No!" Rui cried out suddenly, "You can't! She's still young. She has time to learn from her mistakes!" The elder turned on her.
"Rui, you have been a valuable member of our society as long as you have been alive. I don't agree with your opinions, but I must respect them on behalf of all of the things you have done for us. Very well then Yukina, we will exile you," The elder said coldly.
"I understand," Yukina said. She left the elders, packed all her things, said goodbye to Rui, and then left the village of the ice maidens forever. In her dream Yukina suddenly found herself standing on an empty street in the human world. She did nothing for a moment, but then she saw Kuwabara walking toward her.
"Kazuma!" She called and waved. He didn't appear to be able to see or hear her. As he walked on there was a group of three boys standing a few yards in front of him and they were blocking the path. Yukina could clearly see the face of two of the boys who were standing on the other side of another boy, but the face of the boy in the middle was blacked out. When Kuwabara came to where they were standing he politely asked them to move. They boys simply stood there and glared at Kuwabara, a sign that they didn't plan on moving out of his way anytime soon.
"Hey you guys what's the big deal? I don't have time to beat you up, but I will if you don't move!"
"You're a friend of that Yusuke Urameshi, aren't you? That fighter from Sariyaski Junior High?" One of the boys asked.
"Yeah. what's it to ya?" Kuwabara asked as he tried to shove the boys aside. Another one of the boys pushed him down to the ground.
"We don't like him much." The boy who had pushed Kuwabara down said. He kicked Kuwabara in the face. Kuwabara realized that he would have to fight the boys to get through so he did. He refrained from using any of his spirit powers or his full strength so that he wouldn't injure the boys too badly. He was busy fighting two of the boys, and the third boy whose face was blacked out was standing behind him.
Suddenly, he pulled out a hand gun. The gun made a deafening bang as the bullet was released from the barrel. It hit him near the shoulder. Kuwabara turned around. His mouth was O shaped, mostly from the shock of being shot. As much as he hated to do this, he started to summon his spirit sword. This guy was dangerous. He was seriously trying to hurt Kuwabara. Maybe even kill him.
"You're a pretty lousy shot!" Kuwabara said as he summoned his spirit sword and got ready to strike the boy with it. The boy just stood there and grinned. Kuwabara froze. His eyes widened and his muscles tightened. The boy who had shot him grinned wider.
"That's for Yukina," The boy said and then something very strange happened. Yukina could see Kuwabara's veins in his face and hands. They weren't blue like they should've been though, they were a bright green. Kuwabara fell to the ground, dead, and the green disappeared.
Yukina sat upright as she awoke from her dream. She must've fallen asleep. She reflected on her dream. She felt sad as she remembered the day she was exiled. It had not been a HUGE shock that she had been exiled, but she really hadn't expected them to know about Kuwabara. She was not a revengeful person, but it stung to be abandoned like that. Perhaps that was how her brother had felt. In a way she was sort of glad she had been exiled from the ice world. She missed Rui a lot, but she would be able to take care of other things now. She hoped she would be able to see her brother again.
Now the second part of her dream was bothering her. Why had the man's face been blurred? His voice sounded so familiar, but she couldn't place where she had heard it before. She thought about what had happened to Kuwabara after he had been shot. She didn't know a whole lot about guns, but she doubted that an ordinary human gun could make someone's veins turn green. And he hadn't been hit in the heart or anything, just his shoulder. And what did she have to do with anything of this? The man had said "That's for Yukina." but Kazuma had never done anything to hurt her and how did the man know who she was? There was a slight knocking on her door.
"Yukina? Are you there?" Kurama's voice came through the door. Yukina got out of bed and answered the door. Her hair was coming out of her pony tail slightly and it was a little messy, but it framed her face nicely.
"Hello Kur- er Suuichi." Yukina greeted him remembering that in the human world she had to call him Suuichi.
" My mother sent me up here to tell you dinner is ready. You may want to fix your hair a bit before you come down," Kurama said with a smile. He reached out and smoothed one of her strands of hair that had come out of her pony tail and was now sticking up in front of her face. Yukina blushed at the momentary feeling of his slender gentle fingers running down her face, because although Kurama hadn't done it in a flirtatious fashion, she was not used to having people touch her. The two of them just stood there in silence for a moment. "I guess I should let you get ready so that you can eat," Kurama said as he turned to walk away. Yukina was still blushing a little bit as she walked back into her room to brush her hair and get ready for dinner.
Yukina took a small red hairbrush out of the bag of things she had brought with her to the human world and fixed her hair. She had heard about dinner in the human world and envisioned it to one of the fancy banquets that people dressed up for. She looked at her down at her appearance and sighed. The only clothes she had were her green kimono. She didn't have a more elegant dress to wear to dinner. She decided it would be rude to make no attempt to dress up so she decided to put her hair into a bun with one strand hanging down to frame her face. Yukina studied herself in a mirror that was sitting on the dresser in the bedroom. It was very different for her to wear her hair like that, but it did make her look more elegant.
She opened the door and walked out of her room. She made her way into the living room and paused for a moment. Yukina hoped she was dressed properly for dinner. What if Kurama's mother was insulted that she had not dressed more formally? She had felt so out of place at the funeral where everyone but Hiei and herself was all dressed up, and she would feel even more embarrassed in front of the woman who had kindly let Yukina stay at her house.
"Yukina, are you coming? The dining room is right this way," Kurama called to her. Yukina took a breath and then walked into the dining room to see Kurama and his human mother sitting at the dinner table with plates of delicious looking food in front of them. She noticed that Kurama had not changed out of his clothes from the funeral and his mother was wearing fairly plain attire. She was confused as to why they were not adorned with more formal attire but she was grateful that she didn't have to feel out of place again.
"Mother, this is Yukina." Kurama said as he stood up and gave Yukina a little nudge to say hello to his mother.
"It's very nice to meet you." Yukina said giving a small polite bow.
"It's nice to meet you too. You can have a seat if you want dear." Shiori said nodding her head toward the only chair which was not occupied. Yukina took a seat and she began to eat her dinner. The three of them were silent for the first few minutes of the meal. Shiori broke the silence after awhile by making small talk with Yukina.
"So Yukina, Suuichi tells me you have to stay here since your parents died? I'm very sorry to hear about that." Yukina shot a glance at Kurama who returned it with a look that told her to just play along.
"Umm yes, they died in a…car crash and I have no other family to live with so at Kazuma's funeral Suuchi graciously offered to let me stay with you. I'll try not to be a burden to you, Mrs. Minamino."
"Oh you can call me Shiori, and you are more than welcome here. I'm so sorry it must've been so hard for you to have your parents die and then that boy." Yukina suddenly became very interested in her lap and a look of sorrow flickered across Kurama's features. His mother took notice of their sadness and her expression too turned to one of sorrow.
"Well, it's best not to dwell on the negative things. I'm sure neither your parents nor Kuwabara would want us to be sitting here at dinner mourning them, so let's discuss something else." Kurama said breaking the silence and trying to smile a little.
"Yes, let's," Yukina said as she looked up.
"So Yukina, you're going to go to the same school as Suuichi then?" Shiori inquired.
"Yes. I'm a grade under him though."
"Don't worry we can see about registering you and getting you a uniform and all that. I don't think we'll have you start school right away though. I'm sure you need time to recuperate from this whole experience." Shiori said shooting Yukina another sympathetic look.
Yukina mentally sighed. School was not something she had given too much thought to. She supposed it would be all right since Kurama was going to be there and he would help her through it, but she had heard Yusuke and Kazuma gripe about school many times. She felt a sharp pain in her chest as she thought about Kazuma. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes. She blinked them back slowly. She couldn't cry. Not in front of Shiori. Yukina had a feeling that most humans would be pretty amazed at anyone who could cry jewels. To take her mind off of Kuwabara she decided to answer Shiori.
"I will be fine. I'll start school as soon as I need to."
"Well, the semester ends in a few weeks. I think it would be best if you started at the next semester." Kurama interjected.
"Then I will start at the next semester." Yukina replied with a determined nod. After this discussion everyone was quiet as they finished their dinner. Shiori started to clear the plates once everyone was finished.
"Suuichi, would you help me with the dishes please?" Shiori asked looking at her son knowing that he would have helped her even if she hadn't asked.
"Of course, mother."
"You don't have to do the dishes, Suuichi and I can do them." Yukina said.
"Are you sure? You are a guest in this house I really don't expec-"
"Yes, I'm positive. You are so generously letting me stay in your home so I want to do what I can to help out." Yukina said firmly. She glanced at Kurama hoping that he would insist that his mother didn't help with the dishes. She wanted to talk to him about why dinners weren't as formal as she had expected, but more importantly, she wanted to discuss her dream with him.
"Yes mother, Yukina and I can take care of the dishes. You just go on to bed I know you're tired after a long day at work." Kurama coaxed.
"Oh you kids are so nice. Well have a goodnight then." Shiori said as she retreated to her room. Kurama watched his human mother walk into her room and he waited until her door was shut and he saw her light go off to pull Yukina into the kitchen and talk to her. He turned on the sink and let the plates soak in the warm soapy water for a minute.
"So Yukina, what did you want to talk to me about?" He inquired as he turned towards the koorime girl who looked confusedly at the sink for a moment and then put the plates in it as Kurama had done.
"Umm well, first I wanted to ask you, umm...why was dinner not very formal? All of the human dinners I had heard about everyone dressed up and there was this huge feast. I thought it would be like the dinner after Kazuma's funeral," Yukina added quietly. Kurama tilted his head back and laughed softly. "Did I say something funny?" Yukina asked with a confused expression on her face.
"It's quite all right Yukina, but dinners like that are only on special occasions. Things like holidays and funerals are when we dress up for dinner. Normally they're just like it was tonight." Kurama said smiling at her naivety.
"Oh..." Yukina started quietly with her head down. "...I guess that is sort of funny," She said smiling and lifting her head up. Kurama chuckled again.
"I was wondering why you put your hair up differently. At first I was afraid you took my comment about fixing your hair the wrong way and you thought I didn't like your hair the way it was. I felt bad because I thought I had insulted you. I assure you, it looks quite nice,"
"Oh Kurama, no. I just wanted to dress up for dinner," Kurama chuckled again and then his expression turned to a more serious one.
"I sense there was something else you wanted to discuss with me?"
"Oh, yes, I had this strange dream last night," Yukina said her expression turning grim. She told Kurama everything in her dream and he frowned when she mentioned the man whose face was blurred out and had yelled that he killed Kuwabara for her.
"Do you have any idea who that man could be?" Kurama asked her.
"No, none. I was hoping you might," Yukina said shaking her head.
"Well, this is some interesting news. We should finish the dishes and then sleep on it. I'll see if I can contact anyone in spirit world who may be able to help. You can go to bed right now if you want. I'm sure you must be exhausted," Kurama said as he poured more dish soap on the plates in the sink.
"No, I told your mother I would help out with the dishes so I will." Yukina said as she took the clean dish from him and began to dry it. Kurama opened his mouth to argue but then decided against it. Helping him and his mother around the house was Yukina's way of repaying them for their kindness. When the last dish had been cleaned he handed it to Yukina for her to dry. She hadn't been looking up and Kurama saw her fingers slipping off of the wet dish. He put his hand over hers and grasped the dish with his fingertips so it wouldn't fall. His hand was much larger and it fit over hers nicely. Yukina looked up at him feeling his warm hand on her icy one. She blushed slightly.
"I'm sorry Yukina, it's just you were about to drop the plate," Kurama said quickly pulling his hand away.
"It's fine. I'm sorry I should have been paying more attention," There was an awkward silence as Yukina dried the last plate off.
"We should be getting to bed, Yukina," Kurama said after Yukina put the plate in the cupboard.
"Yes, you're right. Goodnight Kurama,"
"Goodnight Yukina,
And with that the two of the walked off to their rooms and curled up in their beds. Yukina fell asleep almost instantly, but Kurama stayed up pondering who the man in Yukina's dream could have been and what that meant for the rest of them. He kept trying to tell himself that her dream was nothing but that, and that the man in her dream wouldn't come back for her; nervous thoughts of Yukina in danger kept him awake.