Hi all. I want to thank the following people who reviewed:
Kit-kit- Thanks!
Hyperdude- Glad you're happy, and thanks!
Kagome-reincarnation- Yeppers, Jin's an oddball, but we love him anyways!
Thanks again guys, and espically to Kagome and Kit, 'cause you two have been with this for all three going to be four chapters. Hope you enjoy it!
Slipping into Crimson
HieiKuramaFan
Warnings There are some suicide attempts, and graphic details. This is not ment to be a happy story, so if you don't want your "happy bubble" popped, then I suggest you go find another story to read. This story is Shounen ai/Yaoi themed, so if you don't like it, then again, I suggest you go find another story to read.
Disclaimer I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, it all belongs to Togashi-sama. Every last bit of it, and the events occuring in this story are entirely fictional, none of it ever happened. So, you can't sue me for anything. .
A/N: Thoughts are in italics, words that are underlined are emphasized.
...Happy Reading...
Chapter four, Memories
Down...down into sleep he fell. Splotches of color in his mind triggered memories, old memories...
Yellow...
he was back at school. Right after he'd come back to life from getting hit by a car. He walked down the sidewalk, bag in his left hand, arms behind his head. Two kids he didn't know very well that went to his school, in his class, were walking up ahead of him. As he got closer he picked up some of their conversation.
"Dude, a Golden dragon fountain pen! I heard these things bring good luck!"
Said the first one with red hair as he stared at the blue pen that had a golden traditional chinese dragon wrapped around it. The other boy walking next to him, who had darker, brown hair scoffed slightly and turned his head up.
"Yeah, my uncle gave it to me in his will."
The other boy smiled and looked at his friend with a slight laugh in his voice.
"You're like a walking bank now! It's a good thing Urameshi's gone!"
The darker haired one chuckled.
"Yeah, he'd beat me up, steal the pen, and then melt it down into gold coins."
Yusuke's hands tightned into fists, his anger rising. These people, who didn't even know him, were sitting here after his supposed "death" and were mocking him. Poking at him with their stereotypes. Did everyone think of him like that? Was he really that bad? Kids who he'd never even talked to...
"Or a weapon!"
The red haire one added. They both chuckled and laughed as they kept walking. Yusuke fought back the urge to beat the hell out of them, and instead came up behind the two, placing an arm around each of their shoulders.
"Hey boys, mind if I join in the conversation? It's... just so clever."
The two boys looked at him in pure terror and screamed and ran for the school. Yusuke stumbled a little and fell on his face after their sudden departure as he had been leaning on them for support. He sat up brushing himself off.
"They act like I've been dead or something..."
"Let's be honest, Yusuke. I don't think they felt safer around you before. You just never cared."
Yusuke turned to face the owner of the new voice and found himself face to face with Keiko. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced over her.
"K-keiko..."
She looked at him with a slightly confused expression, it was moreso pissed off and it turned into a glare.
"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"
Yusuke jumped and grabbed his bag again.
"Erm... no reason."
He quickly said
She closed her eyes and her face took on a snobbish look as she walked away saying haughtily.
"If it's about the skirt, I don't wanna hear it."
"Hey! It wasn't!"
He called after her as he walked in the direction of the school.
He caught up to her just before entering the front gates. Still wondering how a simple look from him that ment nothing bad could've pissed her off so much... it was almost as though she was just looking for a reason to start fighting with him. Why though? He'd only just come back from the dead yesterday... she'd seemed so happy then, but now...?
...The colors swirled again. Yellow faded away and blended in with others, all swirling and mixing. The memories did too... finally a new color surfaced.
Green...
Kurama's eyes appeared before him. He was on the roof of the hospital. Kurama was speaking softly, sadly, and he found himself unable to not listen.
"Suichi is the name I've taken in my human form... That woman is my mother, sort of."
Kurama turned his head to the side.
"My father passed away years ago. For fifteen years she has brought me up, and I have decieved her..."
Yusuke's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he watched the red-head.
"Sorry, I'm not following..."
He had said. A small smile touched Kurama's lips as he said softly.
"My truest name is Youko. I was a fox... a spirit fox, gaining the powers of a demon over the hundreds of years that I lived. In time I became bored, and passed my hours learning the art of breaking codes and seals. Ancient treasures were my favorite sport. But fifteen years ago, I made a careless mistake, and was badly injured by a strong persuerer. With the last energy I had, I escaped to the living world, and became the child of a proud human family. Knowing that if I could withstand humanity for ten years, my spirit energy would have time to recover, and I could escape without a trace..."
Yusuke shifted his stance and watched Kurama with slight sympathy.
"I take it something went wrong...?"
Kurama turned to look at him.
"My mother fell ill...and I know it might sound foolish, but I couldn't leave her. Considering what she had done for me...That's when they appeared. Hiei had somehow tracked me down needing my expertiese. And I remembered the powers of the forlorne hope..."
He paused. Looking steadily at the small mirror in his hand. Yusuke looked at it too. It seemed to be nothing more than a little pocket mirror. Could it really grant the deepest desire of whoever looks into it? And what did they have to dish out to it first?
"Did you know in some species, a child eats it's mother?"
Yusuke blinked. That was a little random. Why would he say something like that? At any rate, he seemed to really care about his mother. Yusuke suddenly found himself wishing that he had someone to care about him that way too... or at least as much as Kurama seemed to care for his mother.
"Let me use the forlorne hope to save the woman's life, and then I'll accept my punishment."
Kurama said, looking desperatly at Yusuke. His emerald eyes pleading with him.
"But why would a demon do that for a human?"
"I don't know..."
Came Kurama's response.
"Maybe because I'm guilty, maybe because I feel as though I am one of those mother devouring creatures...I've caused her great pains, it's hard raising a child who thinks you're inferior. I feel I broke her spirit, like maybe, in someway, I caused her disease."
Yusuke looked at Kurama questioningly.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Kurama chuckled slightly.
"Maybe I just needed someone to know. And besides, I could tell that you would trust me."
A nurse came running out the door that lead back down to the hospital and cried something about Kurama's mother. Kurama's eyes widened and he took off for the stairs, Yusuke went to follow, but found all the colors starting to swirl again... twisting, blending, mixing into one another...
Blue...
They were at the Dark tournament, Kurama was standing in the ring, arms and legs held where they were by a curse of some kind of paint. No, makeup. A hooded figure stepped up onto the ring, and removed the cloak. It was Touya... they were fighting team Masho. Yusuke looked around. Kuwabara lay with Botan behind him, and off to the right, Hiei and Genkai, the "Masked Fighter" at the time, stood behind a forcefeild of an enchantress, Ruka.
As the fight started, Yusuke found his eyes wandering from it once Kurama had regained use of his limbs. They wondered around the stadium. Watching the faces of all the spectators. He found Keiko, and Shizuru, but his eyes wandered past them. They paused on the other end of the stadium, beside Gama's body. There... laying back against the wall, arms behind his head, vivid wild red hair moving slightly in the breeze sat Jin. There was something about him... his attitude, the way he didn't let anyone or anything get him down..
Before he knew it, the fight had been over, Kurama had pulled another victory, but had passed out in his exhaustion. Yusuke now tore his eyes away from Jin, who he was sure had... winked at him? And turned them upon the ring. He yelled to Koto.
"Hey fox-girl! The rest of the fights are mine!"
Koto stuttered slightly as the crowed booed and called that Kurama staying in the ring was perfectly legal.
"Um... Team captian decides! Yusuke versus Bakken!"
Yusuke went to get into the ring when someone came over the loud speaker.
"Correction, the next fight will be Kurama versus Bakken."
"WHAT?"
Yusuke had shouted, outraged. The loud speaker went on to say something about a fighter can not be removed against their will and bull shit. Yusuke growled softly in anger. He watched as Bakken pummeled Kurama over and over again. Knocking him into the ground again and again. Eventually he screamed stop the fight, Spirit Gun loaded and ready, aimed directly at Bakken.
One of the other hooded figures called to Bakken to put Kurama down and walk away. When Bakken questioned, he asked him if he thought he could survive a hit not only from Yusuke but from Hiei as well. Yusuke glanced over at Hiei and found that the fire youkai was indeed ready to cast a darkness dragon upon Bakken. The colors started to swirl again as he found he wasn't needed... that Kurama already had a protector, as did Hiei, and Kuwabara...and Botan... and all of them... he wasn't needed...
When Yusuke awoke finally, it was to find that the shinobi of wind had fallen asleep beside his bed in a chair. He smiled softly. Taking note that none of his other so called "friends" were there, waiting, concerned. Only Jin...
He sat up slowly, having no clue what time it was, or how long he'd been here. He glanced around the room and found no clock, so he was to be left wondering. It still wouldn't help him know how long he'd been here, or how long he'd been sleeping, but he'd at least know what time it was.
That was a weird dream...
He thought to himself.
It was like one big flash back...but why did it end at the Dark tournament? Other things have happened since then...
Maybe...
Maybe it was to show me something... but what? It's all just feelings that I've already felt before...too many times before...
He glanced at the sleeping Jin who had started to snore slightly and he smiled again. He had to care... He wouldn't be here still if he didn't. Even if he had been acting earlier, he still wouldn't be here if he didn't care. He reached a hand out slowly and gently ran his fingertips through Jin's hair.
Soft...very soft...softer than he had thought it would be. Jin stirred slightly, but not enough to awaken, and Yusuke relaxed again. He didn't want to have to explain why Jin woke up to his fingers stroking his hair. He wasn't quite sure himself why he was doing it. He pulled his hand away just as the wind master stirred again and groggily awoke. His blue eyes lit up as he saw Yusuke sitting awake in bed, and his usuall warm smile spread across his face as he groggily yawned.
"Finally decide to wake up, did ya?"
He asked and Yusuke smiled as he nodded. Jin's smile broadened as he saw Yusuke smile. Much happier than before. He chuckled slightly.
"Heh, there ya go. Ya look much prettier with that happy smile on your face instead of a depressed one."
He stood and smiled at the small blush that had crept across Yusuke's face. Yusuke watched him with insecureity. His face... his eyes... all so warm, so there. Jin's hand went to his cheek, and he felt himself leaning into it, just wanting to feel the warmth, to feel loved, to feel needed.
Jin softly stroked Yusuke's cheek with his thumb before he said softly.
"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get you checked out of here..."
Yusuke didn't want the warmth to leave, but leave it did when Jin slid his hand off his cheek and headed for the door. He opened it and left quietly and Yusuke watched the floor. Bringing his own hand up, he laid it over the spot where Jin's had just been previously.
I look "prettier" with this happy smile...
End of fourth chapter.
Wow... this one was really long... defidently makes up for the shortness of chapter two, don't you think? Anyways, please reveiw and tell me what ya think!
HieiKuramaFan