Memories Chapter 1, a yu yu hakusho fanfic

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Please support the official release.

Summery:

I looked up into a pair of sparkling blue eyes. I had never seen eyes so blue, it was like the summer sky had taken up residence around his pupils. A shock of hair the vibrant red of Marciano cherries fell in a wild main around his young face. He had a toothy grin that split his face in a cat-that-ate-the-canary kind of smile. But the most remarkable thing about him and what I admit I stared at the most was the pair of large pointed ears that graced either side of his face.

"Holey crap." I whispered. "Its Peter pan!"

Memories

Chapter 1:

Wake-y, wake-y! Eggs and bake-y!

"Ah...They drugged ya good, they did."

The voice came from so far away. It was hard to understand. I don't know if it was me who opened my eyes or him.

"Hello!"

A face swam into view, it was spinning round and round. I could hardly make since of it. Bright hair, big eyes. Just when I was about to make out the smaller features they swam and I felt myself falling.

"No! Ha, ha! Ah...don't be closin' those smilin' eyes. Pooh, yer pupils are so dilated there aint nothin else in there."

Two large calloused hands pressed themselves on either side of my face. They were so warm, I started sinking down again into the blackness. I felt so safe and warm. I could sleep forever like this. Suddenly something blew in my face, making me startle. My eyes shot open to the spinning world again.

"They gave ya too much, the damn fools. If'n ya go back ta sleep, ya won't be wakin' up lass. Stay with ol' Jin now."

A needle waved in front of my eyes and I tried to follow it. The thing went too fast and my eyes rolled up into my skull. I felt a sting on my arm, but I didn't seem to care. Nothing seemed to bother me right now. I was dimly aware of him tapping my face again.

"Wake-y, wake-y lass. The sun's a shinin' and 'tis a beautiful day."

I started to shake so hard my teeth began to chatter. Two strong arms lifted me up and held me against a warm chest. Something wet fell onto my hand and it took me a moment to realize I was crying and I didn't know why. My head fell back and a hand quickly supported it.

"Shhh...'tis alright lass. You'll be awake in a wee bit. Ol' Jin's got ya now. Ah, ah. Don't be a-tryin ta get up. Give it a few minuets more luv." He laughed aloud, the next was said more to himself. "She's as feisty as her father, she is."

Just as he promised the fog began to clear in a few moments. My shivering stopped and I felt less woozy. The man (I think he said his name was Jin) rubbed my back in soothing circles. I blinked my eyes, forcing them to clear. I came to myself to the sound of him humming. It was a pretty little song that I had never heard before. I relaxed against him.

"See? What did I tell ya? Right as rain ya are now."

"Holey crap." I whispered. "Its Peter pan!"

An eyebrow fell down while the other got lost in his hairline.

"Who?"

"Peter Pan." I insisted.

He laughed again and waved a hand. "I ain't no Peter, and I am certainly no Pan. Jin's the name and winds me game! At yer service my fair maiden."

I don't know why but I laughed. I laughed so hard tears came streaming down my face. Moments later the ground came up to meet me, but I don't remember hitting it.

I awoke with a start. The red haired man was leaning over me holding a needle in my arm and pumping something slowly into my veins. He noticed me wake and his grip tightened.

"Don't move luv. Yer metabolizing the antidote as fast as I'm pumping it in. Yer body is a little strange but Ol' Jin got the mix right this time." He took out the needle and shoved another into its place. I only winced a little bit, I promise.

"Whats happening to me?" I asked.

"When the rebels took ya, they gave ya a sedative. Damn idiots gave ya enough tranquilizer ta kill a dragon. I caught up to em when they stopped to find out why ya were having such a hard time breathing. I took ya away, pumped ya full of the antidote, and here we are."

"I-I don't remember." I wailed.

Jin took out the needle and tossed it away. He reached into a pouch on his waist and took out a band-aid to place over my shot. "Don't worry about it. That's one of the side effects of the drug. Yer memory should come back in a couple of days."

"Where am I?" I asked.

Jin helped me sit up before answering. "A place that's very far from home, and very dangerous for someone such as yourself."

"For me?" I asked, swaying slightly.

Jin nodded and guided one of my arms over his neck with one hand and slipped the other around my waist. He had to stoop a little because I was quite a few inches shorter then him, but he had me on my feet. "Aye. Yer father is worried sick about ya, lass. He hired me ta get ya back home."

"Daddy?" I whispered.

My father's serious face flashed before my eyes. Intense brown eyes that sat above a proud nose and almost womanish full lips. His once black hair had started to go gray at the temples. He was very tall and I had always been a little miffed that I hadn't inherited that trait from him. Would I ever see him again?

"How are ya feelin? Not sick ta yer stomach are ya?" Jin asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

I shook my head. "Uh-uh."

"Good. Let me know if that changes."

We continued walking in silence for a few moments. I must have been more out of it than I realized because I was just now realizing that we were walking through a dense jungle. Leaves littered the ground and cushioned each foot fall. It almost felt like walking on a mattress. But I could feel thick sticks and rocks burred under the leaves. Jin had to compensate my weight on more than one occasion as I tripped over the hidden objects. The act of simply moving one foot in front of the other was slowly getting easier the more I did it. Once I had it down pat, I let my eyes wander over the strange creature that was Jin. I was 5'2" and by the way he was hunched, he had to be at least 5'9". If stooping was hurting him, he didn't seem show it. My eyes jumped to his chest which was bare save for two thick strips of loose cloth that crossed it in a giant 'X'. The ends of the X were tucked into a light blue belt that had a large circular red gem as decoration. His baggy pants were white and flowed down his legs to about mid calf where they were bound in place by off-white bandages. Black peeked out from under the tops of the bandages and wound around the top of his foot before disappearing between his toes. It took me a moment to realize that the black cloth only covered the arches of his foot and left the rest bare.

"Doesn't that hurt?" I said.

"Hm?" He asked.

"You aren't wearing any shoes."

He surprised me by laughing. "Does it hurt, she says? Why no, lass." He took a moment to lift a foot and wiggle his toes. "No proper shinobi ever wears shoes. Ever try to climb something slick with shoes on? You'd never get out, they get in the way of gripping things."

"What's a shin-shinobu?" I asked stumbling over the word.

He laughed so hard that he bent at the waist, dipping us both down a little farther. "S-s-shinobu! Shinobu she says! Lass, I'm a shinobi. Sh-no-bee. I think your people call us Ninja's. 'Cept Ninja is a human term."

"My dad sent a Ninja to get me?" I asked in disbelief. I found it hard to believe that my dad, a mild mannered accountant, knew where to hire a Ninja, let alone find one.

Jin fixed me with a bright eye that sparkled with mirth. "Not a ninja, shinobi." He reached up and gently flicked his ear. It waggled up and down from the motion. "Ain't no human around that's got ears like mine."

My walking skipped a beat and Jin half dragged me a step until I got my feet under me again. He was right, his ears were almost as long as two of my hands placed end to end.

"What are you?" I asked.

This time Jin didn't laugh. He shot up an eyebrow in confusion. "What was the last thing you remember?"

I closed my eyes. The last thing I remembered was sitting in class taking a history test. I told Jin as much.

"That was three days ago. That drug messed with your head more than I thought." He said.

"How did you know that? This is the first time I've ever seen you." I said.

Jin shrugged his shoulder. "When the rebels started actin' up yer dad thought it was best to get someone ta keep an eye on ya a little closer than normal. Good thing too, if I hadn't found ya those idiots would a killed ya."

"Wait...how does my dad know...what ever it is you are?" I asked.

Jin pouted slightly, sticking out his lip. "Well isn't that a fine how-do-ya-do. "It". I am not an IT. I'm a demon. Say it with me now 'demon'."

"DEMON?" I squeaked. Fear I that I didn't know the source of ate at my heart.

I jerked away from Jin and stumbled onto my butt in the leaves. A blue scaled face with glowing orange eyes popped up in front of my vision. I scrambled away as the thing leaned down and said Look boys, you'd think she's never seen a demon before!I threw my arms in front of my face in a block as it reached out a hand to grab me.

"D-Don't touch me! Oh GAWD! PLEASE DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed in fear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy lass." Jin said and backed up. "I won't touch ya."

I lowered my arms, breath coming in gasps. Where had the blue lizard-like man gone?

"I-Is he gone?" I asked.

"Y...Yea, he's gone. Your voice scared him away." Jin said uneasy. "What did he look like."

"He was a...blue lizard." I whispered.

Jin's eyes went hard for a second before growing soft. "Ya don't need to be worrying about him any more lass. C'mon."

Jin helped me to my feet and we continued to walk. He opened his mouth as if to ask another question, but instead closed it with a snap. We walked on in silence, the only sound was our feet rushing through the leaves. We walked on until the light started to fade. Suddenly Jin stopped and stretched his arms above his head.

"Alright lass, this is where we stop for the night." Jin said.

I looked around. "Where are we?"

Jin smiled and threw his hands above his head. "I have no idea!"

When my mouth dropped open he laughed.

"Aw...I was only teasing. Truth is I can't say exactly where we are. But were not far from your father's territory. Its another day's march that-a-way to the town of Byztian. We'll be meeting a friend of mine there before I take ya home. Now come here, We don't want to be on the ground when the sun sets."

I stepped over to him and he wrapped his arms around me. It was then I noticed that the same bandages that were on his legs were also on his arms. The same black cloth poked out at his elbows and wrists, while the same red jewels from his waist decorated his elbows.

"Alley-oop!" Jen called.

I gasped and threw my arms around his neck when we levitated off the ground and shot high up into the trees. Jin landed us on a sturdy branch and guided me to sit between his legs. He had his back pressed up to the trunk of the tree. He reached up into the branches and pulled down a back pack.

"Hold that please." He said.

I did as instructed as he reached up again and pulled down a large folded blanket. With a shake of his powerful arms he had unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around the two of us. He then took the pack from me and dug through it. I twisted around and watched as he pulled out a large white cloth and looped it once around his back then passed it round my waist.

"We'll be sleeping up here and I'd hate ta have ya fall to yer death 'cuz I rolled over in me sleep." He said.

After checking the cloth that bound us together and giving it a few good tugs, he fished around in the bag again until he found some food and a canteen of what I assumed to be water.

"Aw, Touya I knew there was a reason I liked ya!" Jin laughed and passed me something wrapped up in a leaf. "He always packs me favorite snacks. Go on, eat!"

I unwrapped the leaf and gasped. I had never seen anything like it. The food was bright blue. I sniffed it and could make out the unmistakable smell of garlic, onion and something else. But whatever that 'else' was, it smelled wonderful. I stuck out my tongue and gave it a quick lick. The flavor was hard to describe, but man was it tasty! I reared back and was about to take a bite when Jin placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Forgot ta tell ya to go slow. Its a special shinobi treat ya got there, its designed ta keep ya goin' for a long time. That will fill ya up very quickly."

I took his advice and nibbled off a corner. One and a half bites later and I was stuffed. Jin took It back from me and gave me the canteen. I took it from him and drank deeply. It was some of the best tasting water I had ever had. Jin stretched his arms above his head as the last rays of sunlight slipped over a horizon as red as fresh spilled blood. A yawn forced his mouth wide and I was able to see inhumanly sharp eye teeth glint in the dimming light. He placed his hands on my shoulders and guided me back against his chest. We wiggled around until we got as comfortable as we were going to get. I ended up with my head resting at the junction where his neck met his shoulder. He had his arms tucked up and over my waist, fingers laced on top of my belly. He gave a quick squeeze.

"'Night Luv." He said.

"Carrie." I said.

Jin cracked open an eye. "Carrie?"

"My name is Carrie."

Jin closed his eye and nodded.

"Night Carrie."

Jin closed his eyes and was asleep moments later. I stayed awake studying the hands that were laced across my stomach. I reached out and stroked his thumb. The skin was rough and the pad of his thumb heavily calloused. He had working hands. I marveled at how big they were. Mine could have easily gotten lost in his. My fingers ran up the ball joint of his thumb towards his wrist. His hands twitched when I touch the inside of his wrist. I stopped at the black bandage and gently ran my fingers around it. Jin reached up and grabbed my hand in his, but didn't seem to wake. I settled back against his chest and let the soft sound of his snoring lull me to sleep.

"Night Jin." I whispered.

This idea has been playing around in my head for a long time! Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it XD