Father's and Sons

Part 2

"You shouldn't bother with things like that." Yusuke scoffed. "The old man ditched us."

Atsuko's eyes narrowed as she stood, walking toward her son. "He did no such thing." She stated, setting her bottle down on the table by the wall.

"Oh yeah? Then where is he? Why isn't he here? Why would you bother drinking if-" He was cut off as his mother slapped him. Shock stretched across both their faces before she schooled her features into a stoic expression. "Go to your room." She stated, grabbing her bottle and walking out the door.

He didn't move until he heard the door close behind him. Then, he turned and walked toward the rooms, his friends following slowly as they made it into his room.

"Do you want us to-" Kuwabara started, not sure if he should step into the room.

"...Just stay. We have to get this done anyway." He stated, not bothering to look at anything but the ground.

When the door closed behind her, she pushed herself to the railing, leaning on it heavily as she hid her face with her arms, allowing her bottle of alcohol to hang over the edge with her hands. 'What did I do...' Silent tears started down her cheeks, hitting the railing quietly, as if they were never even there to begin with.

Hearing the door open behind her, she quickly wiped her tears, taking another drink of her alcohol as she heard the boys leave, seeing only three of them out of the corner of her eye before her son finally came into her view.

When they were gone, her face immediately found her wrists as she choked back a sob.

"Come back...please...please just come back..."

After an hour of staring at the sky blankly, she finally turned around and walked back into the apartment. As soon as she was in, she went straight to bed.

It wasn't until a week and a half later that her son came back home. The moment he did, she walked up to the door.

"Yusuke?" She started quietly, catching his attention at the door.

He stared at her blankly, brown eyes locking onto her own brown orbs.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." She started, tears already coming to her eyes. Walking forward, she engulfed her tense son in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I'm sorry!"

His eyes widened as he heard her apology. As much as he didn't want to forgive her, he also noticed the sincerity and the lack of something else... "Are you sober?"

She sniffed, pulling back with a nod, wiping her eyes. "I made dinner..." She continued, motioning to the kitchen, "It's yakisoba...your favorite."

He blinked in shock, walking out the door and checking the name plate before walking back inside, staring at the person that looked like his mother. "I'm at the right place...but this is definitely not what I remember."

Atsuko scoffed. "You're at the right place, brat." Then turned to look toward the kitchen. "Hurry up before it gets cold."

Watching her carefully as he passed, he made his way to the kitchen and found his seat with his back against the wall. His mother sat across from him as they ate in silence. Once done, they put their dishes in the sink and Yusuke helped clean up the remaining food, placing the containers of food in the fridge before looking his mother in the eye. "What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

Giving her an annoyed look, he motioned to her, "You're sober. You made dinner. We ate together. You greeted me at the door. The place is clean. Something is up. Spill."

Sighing, she motioned toward the living room, where they walked to and Yusuke sat on the couch while his mother sat on the chair across from him.

"We haven't been completely honest with you, Yusuke..." She started, looking him in the eye. He narrowed his eyes.

"How so?"

Looking at the VHS player, she turned back to her son. "Remember the video I was watching when you walked in a couple weeks ago?"

"Yeah"

"Earlier that day, I brought you to the park and while you were playing, I was confronted by a demon." Closing her eyes as if to picture the day, she took a deep breath before opening them and staring straight at him, "We had a fight and you overheard. You told your father about it while you were taking a bath and he confronted me afterward."

Sitting on the end of the chair, her face went completely serious. "He told me to describe the demon and what we fought about. When I was done, he became serious. I mean, really serious. It was terrifying."

"What did he say?" Yusuke urged, trying for once to keep his temper in check and knowing that his mother was serious. She was not joking around with this one.

Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "He said that we had to hide. That he was sorry for putting us in danger. The demon that had confronted me at the park was the messenger of the demon gang in the Makai. The Death Seekers is their gang. All I know is that they are impossible to find and never miss their target. Everyone that stands in their way ends up dying, and your father was currently standing in their way."

"How? Why?"

Sighing, she replied, "It's his job. The uniform he was wearing in the video, the blue jacket and black pants and the white crescent over his left chest area...He's an officer...a detective for the Ancients. He was so close to catching the Death Seekers. That's why they were coming after us. To catch him. He helped us change our last names and sent us away until he could get rid of the demons." She finished, starting to stutter over her words, "I don't know whether he's dead or alive anymore..."

Yusuke moved beside his mother, allowing her to hold onto him as he took into consideration her words. He didn't say anything for the rest of the night. When they went to bed, he snuck off to the spirit world, calling Botan to get him.

Koenma greeted him with a blank stare. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too, Toddler. I need you to find out everything you know on the Death Seekers and my father."

"What for?"

"Just do it, alright? I go without many questions for you, so do this for me would ya?"

Silence was his response before Koenma called George in, ordering him to find the files. Twenty minutes later, George came back, holding a single piece of paper in his hand.

"This is all we have on the Death Seekers. Also, there's no Urameshi on file with a kid..."

Turning his gaze to George, Yusuke spoke, "My last name was changed when I was about five. I don't remember what it was..."

"You think on that then, and we'll search for any name changes in your file. In the mean time, why don't you visit your friends in the Makai and see if they have more information than we do on the Death Seekers." Koenma started, reading the paper, "All we have on file is that they are a gang of demons that can only be joined if they choose you. If you decline, you die. Any and all of the people that cross them have their families wiped out in front of their eyes before they too die. Other than that, we have nothing on them."

"Thanks." Botan opened a portal and Yusuke stepped through. The moment he was gone, Koenma looked to Botan.

"Fine Kurama and Kuwabara and send them to where Hiei and Yusuke are. He's going to need all the help he can get if he's planning on facing the Death Seekers."

"Yes sir!" She disappeared.

Yusuke sat in the silent room, having gotten no more information than before on the group of demons after his family.

"Do you remember anything about your life before you became a Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked again, sighing. "Like your last name."

"I told you I-" He froze, a thought just passing by him. Blinking, he calmed down. "Actually...I think it was Higurashi..."

"You'd be right." An unknown male voice responded as all eyes turned to the door.