Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. This is a work of fanfiction for which I am not paid.
Author's note: The fun version is you-know-where.
Chapter 2
The next time Kurama woke, he was in his bed. His alarm went off, blaring the morning news at him. Something about an escaped convict somewhere. Kurama wasn't listening. He shut off the alarm and stood, stretching. It was Sunday. He didn't have to work. Thank goodness. It had all been a dream.
Kurama stood and headed to his bathroom, surprised to see Hiei there. "Good morning, Hiei." Kurama smiled. After that horrible dream, waking up to find another person in his apartment had quelled his anxiety somewhat. He wasn't as frightened.
"What are you doing, Kurama?" Hiei asked, staring at him. "Why aren't you fighting?"
Kurama was confused. He looked around. Everything was calm. Why did Hiei look like he was going to jump out of his skin? "Hiei...?" Kurama walked forward and touched Hiei's shoulder, hoping to calm him. Under his touch, Hiei seemed to relax significantly. It was a mere shrug of his shoulders but Kurama noticed it. He wasn't at all surprised when, moments later, Hiei grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him hard. Even so, Kurama dropped his towel and wrapped his arms around Hiei, pulling the hiyoukai into his bedroom.
"Try to be quiet, Hiei. I'd prefer if you did not wake my neighbors."
"Your neighbors are gone, Kurama," said Hiei. "You are alone here."
Kurama woke with a start. He was still in the cave. Pinching himself, he realized, once again, he was awake. The delightful scene in his bedroom had been a dream. He was already so lonely as to have wet dreams about Hiei? Kurama was slightly disgusted with himself. Yes, he and Hiei had sex often enough but Hiei was never gentle like that. It was almost wrong. Hiei knew better than to be gentle with Kurama. Kurama would never stand for it. Apart from that, Kurama had been far tooaffectionate with him. That hadn't been like him at all.
Kurama rested his head in his hands for a moment, still curled up against the wall of the cave. This was pathetic. He had to figure out where everyone had gone. None of this made sense. Had he lost his mind?
Standing, Kurama straightened his clothes as best as he could but felt no shame walking through Makai with his pants in such a state. It wasn't like anyone was there to see him. Again, Kurama felt a stab of panic in his heart. He tried to push the panic away and headed out of the cave. He wasn't going to let a dream unsettle him. He'd find out where everyone had gone soon.
The streets of Sarayashiki were still empty of people. Rather than getting used to the emptiness, it only became more profound as time went on. Kurama felt lonelier and lonelier. He glanced around, thinking he'd seen a shadow. His heart leapt, thinking of Hiei but when he looked at the space where he thought he'd seen the shadow again, it was gone.
It was strange. Kurama felt like he'd been alone for a week. Or perhaps not quite that long. The sun never seemed to set. Maybe he was asleep when it happened. When he looked down at himself, he was wearing a completely different outfit but he didn't remember having gone home to shower. That was... odd.
"You idiot!" Kurama jumped. He was awake wasn't he? He looked over his shoulder. He was home now wasn't he? No. He was looking at Kuwabara's TV now. When had he gone to Kuwabara's house. "Are you listening now, you fool?"
Kurama knelt in front of the TV, staring at it with awe. The television was blank but there was a flickering quality to the blackness and Hiei's voice came through clearly. "Have I... Have I lost my mind?" Kurama cringed again at the sound of his own voice. It sounded far too loud to his ears in the silence and yet still lacking in any sort of power.
"Quit mopeing. You are stronger than this."
Kurama touched the television. "What's... What is this? Am I still dreaming?"
"Just listen. You've been..." There was nothing but static for a moment and then Kurama no longer heard Hiei's voice.
"Hiei?" Kurama waited. Nothing but the high-pitched buzzing noise was coming from the tv anymore. Kurama strained his ears. He could almost hear Hiei's voice but couldn't make out what the hiyoukai was saying. Then the screen went completely blank and utter silence fell once more. "Hiei? Hiei?! Come back!"
It was too late. Kurama had already gone mad from the loneliness.
I keep walking. Even now. How long has it been? Time is strange here. No matter how long I gaze at the sky, the position of the sun never changes. Once in awhile, I can almost feel a breeze and voices are carried to me on the phantom wind. I cannot hear what they say. I am so alone. Why am I so alone?
Why won't anyone save me? Can I even be saved anymore?
It was a daisy. Kurama kept staring at it, feeling completely foolish. A daisy. But it reminded him so much of Kuwabara. What a strange association to make with the redhead. Nothing else felt like any of his friends. The television in Kuwabara's home had lingering traces of Hiei's youki. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking. Perhaps this daisy wasKuwabara. Kurama had long since decided he'd gone completely insane. The likeliest circumstance, in Kurama's mind, was that he was dead and this was hell. He knew he hadn't earned a less severe punishment than this. Trapped forever in this place where the plants didn't know his name; stuck in this pretty human form he loathed so much. It was painful trying to revert. Kurama felt that if he could become a fox, he could endure this torture far more easily. He could run to the Makai hills and play until his brain gave in fully to the madness of this place.
For now, Kurama gently toyed with the flower that so reminded him of his friend. He missed Kuwabara. And Yuusuke. And Hiei. His mother, stepfather and little brother too. He wondered if they missed him. Kurama played with the petals, wanting to scream. The flower wasn't listening to him. He wanted it to grow, to transform into Kuwabara. He wanted Kuwabara to come rescue him. Or Yuusuke. Or Hiei. How wonderful it would be if that were possible. How nice to be able to see his friends again. "I miss you," Kurama muttered to the daisy. "I miss you, and Yuusuke. I do not know who I miss most of all. Probably my m-mother." Kurama gasped, surprised that his voice had caught in his throat. Regardless of the fact he was only talking to a flower, Kurama felt better. Less afraid, less alone. He wasn't sure what he'd do if the flower started talking back. Probably eat it.
Kurama laughed. "I haven't eaten in days. Or months, or perhaps hours. I have no idea how long I've been here... It seems I don't need to. My body feels no hunger. Only anxiety and fatigue. This is a strange place." Kurama started absently shredding the grass around the flower. This field was the prettiest place he'd found but even its beauty, even the flowers and trees and cloudless sky felt painful and cruel. "Have I died, Kuwabara-kun? Is this some horrible dream? Or have all the living creatures on Earth perished save for myself? It seems too cruel a fate. Even for someone as awful as myself."
Kurama touched the flower again. He felt better once more. "I should go find Yuusuke. I expect you would not mind coming with me." Kurama very gently unearthed the daisy, making sure it had enough damp soil to stay alive. None of the plants here ever seemed to change. Kurama was tempted to rip down a tree with his bare hands just to see what would happen. He almost wept when he glanced over his shoulder and saw a new daisy to replace the one in his hands.
The daisy hasn't died. It's still sitting there, on top of Kuwabara-kun's television. I wonder if Hiei and Kuwabara are irritated to be in such close proximity. I must find humor somewhere. I still have not found Yuusuke. Perhaps if I went to his apartment, he would be there.
Kurama hadn't been in Yuusuke's apartment for awhile. He mostly stayed in Kuwabara's home because that was where he sometimes thought he heard Hiei's voice coming from the television. Hiei had been quiet since the first time. Kurama wasn't sure how long it had been since he'd heard Hiei's voice.
Kurama nearly jumped out of his skin when he walked into Yuusuke's house and saw Yuusuke, standing there wrapped in that silly afghan. "Why did you leave, Kurama?" Yuusuke's voice was a whisper. He looked so sad. Yuusuke never looked this sad. "Why did you have to go?"
Kurama trembled slightly. He wanted to answer but he was too afraid of this odd, spectral Yuusuke standing before him. Kurama didn't even remember opening the door to Yuusuke's apartment anymore. He'd completely forgotten how he'd gotten there. Kurama closed his eyes, hard, half hoping Yuusuke would be gone when he opened them but half-hoping he'd still be there.
He was. And now Kurama's own mother was standing next to Yuusuke, weeping into her hands. And her tears were bloody. Kurama closed his eyes again. Wake up, Kurama. Wake up!
Kurama snapped awake. He was lying on Kuwabara's living room floor. What had woken him up?
"Kurama!"
Kurama looked at the television again. Was this another dream? Or was any of it real? "What, Hiei?" Kurama didn't bother trying to hide his irritation. He didn't want to talk to the television again right now.
"Get out of this thing!" Hiei sounded really angry. "Why must you continually ignore mewhen I speak to you. I have been shouting for several minutes."
"You're not real, Hiei. You're just a television." Kurama glanced at the daisy on top of Hiei. On top of the television. "Please stop talking to me. I've already lost my mind."
"This is hopeless, oaf. I told you he wasn't listening." The television screen went back to its usual blank screen and high pitched buzzing. Kurama unplugged it but the sound didn't go away. That sound followed him everywhere now.
I wonder if I can die. I wonder if I can leap off a tall building and be dead. I think I already tried that yesterday. But the building turned into a toy. Yes. I remember now. This world won't even let me leave it through death.
"Kuwabara-kun, I still have not found Yuusuke," Kurama said to the daisy. He was still lying on the floor where he'd collapsed after unplugging the television. Unless he'd gotten up and done something between then and now that he'd forgotten. It felt like it had been years that he was laying here. "I wonder where he is. I am too frightened to visit his home. I am not sure if that was a nightmare or a vision. I swear I can smell the blood. Even now. Maybe it is my own. Perhaps I really am dying." Kurama laughed. It was hollow and sounded wrong in the air but he laughed anyway. Laughed until he was half sick but even if he could throw up, there was nothing to vomit. There was still food everywhere. Everything was unchanging, even when Kurama tried to change it himself. The only things he'd managed were to put that ludicrous daisy on top of Hiei. On top of the television. Kurama laughed again, thinking of Hiei with a daisy on his head. Or better yet, Kuwabara riding on Hiei's shoulders. It was so funny!
"Do me a favor and never climb atop Hiei." Kurama smiled, eyes still closed. "I will be forced to kill you if you ever do."
When he woke, Hiei was there again. But Kurama had learned by now that the presence of his friends was either a cruel dream, a nightmare or a hallucination. He couldn't tell them apart anymore. "Hello, Hiei." Kurama didn't move, just stared up at Hiei from the floor, smiling vacantly. "Come to haunt me again?"
"You're being ridiculous." Hiei sat beside Kurama's head and stared at him. "Get up off the floor. You are not a rug, you are a youkai."
"You're so funny, Hiei." Kurama reached up to touch Hiei's face, but Hiei flinched away. That was more like it. His last dream about Hiei had been strange. Hiei hadn't been himself. Kurama didn't even care that Hiei's skin kept turning green. "What a bizarre dream."
"You are awake this time, fool." Hiei scoffed, adjusting his boots. "Why have you put a flower on top of the television?"
"Do not be rude, Hiei. I know you are not a fan of Kuwabara-kun but that seemed the best place to keep him." Kurama ran his fingertips over Hiei's arm and Hiei jerked away again.
"You are insane. You've been here barely a day and your brain is already addled. I expect better from you."
"It has to have been years by now, Hiei." Kurama folded his hands over his chest. "You are a very solid dream."
"I am not a dream!"
"If this is not a dream, why does everything look so colorful?" Kurama looked at Hiei and watched him glance around at the walls.
"Everything is gray." Hiei sounded alarmed now. "What colors? This world isn't real. It is in your mind. Only the daisy looks real because you mean it to."
"I know that." Kurama sat up, looking at Hiei. He was sitting directly in front of the television now. Kurama wanted to weep.
"Don't fall asleep again!"
"I was already sleeping."
Much as I loathe to admit it, I believe I will require your help.
Kurama reached out and touched Hiei again. Hiei scowled but relented finally. Hiei stopped speaking. He stopped doing much of anything aside from responding to Kurama's kisses.
Kurama broke apart from Hiei to trail his fingertips over Hiei's arms again but he froze, gaping at the hiyoukai.
"Hiei... Why on Earthwould you change into a maid costume?"
"Don't you like it, Kurama-sama?" Kurama watched Hiei curtsey and felt like vomitting. "I'm wearing it for you..."
"..." Kurama stared at Hiei for another long moment. "You... You look like a prepubescent GIRL, Hiei. That's... disgusting."
"You don't like it?" 'Hiei' flounced a little. "Really, Kurama-sama?"
"No. I do not. What in the gods...? I am dreaming." Kurama slapped himself in the face to wake himself up. "This is a terrible, terrible nightmare. I am not sure who you are supposed to be, but you are notHiei."
Kurama sat up and was awake, staring at Hiei again. But he was silent and still this time, still sitting in the same place Kurama had left him, with that absurd daisy on his head. Kurama lifted the daisy off of Hiei's head. "It did not suit, you Hiei. Neither did the maid outfit. What a horrible dream." Kurama shuddered and moved to the couch, placing Kuwabara next to him. "Honestly, Kuwabara-kun, I am quite glad that you cannot read minds."
Kuwabara said nothing in response. Because Kuwabara was a daisy.