Chapter 5

The first week passed and Kuwabara was feeling great about his new school. He visited Yukina in the front office everyday and he had begun to hang out with Shuichi. Hiei still called him an idiot and various other names whenever they ran into each other, which was not often, but Kuwabara began to respond with his own: shrimp and runt were top of the list. Yusuke seemed to skip school altogether, leaving Hiei alone most of the time. Normally this meant nothing, until one day when Kuwabara tried to visit Yukina.

Kuwabara walked into the front office with a big grin on his face. "Good morning Yukina."

"Good morning Kazuma," the girl replied.

"I brought a big lunch today so we could share, just the two of us."

"That's very kind of you, but unfortunately I can't. I'm having lunch with Hiei."

Kuwabara's jaw dropped. He then noticed the short boy sitting in a chair next to his sister's. No one had told Kuwabara of the relation.

"Why would you want to eat with this freak?"

"Kazuma! Don't say those things about Hiei!" Yukina's face appeared shocked and gradually transformed into mild anger.

"So I guess that means you two are dating?" Kuwabara hung his head morosely.

Before Yukina could respond, Hiei shouted. "You really are a dumbass aren't you?!"

"Hiei!" Yukina turned to her brother. Before she could go on, the office phone rang and she had to answer, holding up her index finger to signal the boys to be quiet. While she talked, Kuwabara left the office with a rain cloud hanging over his head.

Chapter 6

"I don't care if you don't want to go Yusuke, but you've missed too many days," Keiko lectured as she dragged the boy down the street one morning by his ear. "You're already far behind and any more absences and the truant officer is going to visit and I'm sure your mother would appreciate that after working all night."

"I don't see why this is your problem Keiko," he responded. "Besides, my mom is hammered most of the time. I don't think she'll notice a visit to the house as being at the wrong time of day."

"I'm doing this because somebody has to care about you." Her voice was almost a whisper. Yusuke stopped walking and Keiko stopped with him, his ear still in her fist.

"Keiko?"

She did not say anything but released his ear so he could stand straight. Rubbing his ear he said, "So I'm just some charity case to you?"

The brunette looked at him and Yusuke saw tears come to her eyes. "That's not it at all. Yusuke, I've always cared about you since we were little. Remember the day I pushed you into the river and you ended up getting sick? I felt so bad after that. I don't want you to become something you're not. You act tough all the time, but the Yusuke I know is a lot more than that. You're not just some delinquent." A few tears slid down her cheeks.

Yusuke reached over and wiped her tears away. "Alright, I'll go to school. Just don't cry, I hate it when you cry."

Keiko brightened. "Good, let's go." She began walking down the sidewalk with a smile and a slight skip.

Yusuke was dumbfounded. "Did she just play me?"