Music is my Boyfriend- Skye Sweetnam. Kremlin Dusk- Utada Hikaru
So, this is post one in my race with Shiningheart of Thunderclan. We are in a contest to update each of our stories first, starting today. I have to go and update The Balance of Chaos, What If, and My Own Private Idaho next. I have What If done, so, I'm halfway there!
Take that!
Yusuke blinked awake, feeling a sense of déjà vu . He was back on the couch in Vince's living room, sun light streaming through the window, sunflowers bowing slightly in the wind. He rolled off the couch and stumbled to his feet. Someone was trying not to make noise in the kitchen. Curious, because he didn't remember making it back to the house, he wandered in to see who it was.
Scotty was bent over at the waist, half-buried in the fridge. All she wore for clothing was her black tee from the night before, a bit ripped up, and what appeared to be Spiderman boys brief. Upon closer inspection, Yusuke found he had seen right. She also had on headphones and was shaking her hips and top half to whatever beat was pouring into her ears.
He wanted to see how long it would be until she noticed him leaning against the counter beside, so he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to decipher the lyrics he could hear blasting even though her over the ear headphones. He realized she was quietly singing under her breathe. He didn't recognize the words.
"Pervert." Vince smacked Yusuke in the back of the head, coming in from the other side of the kitchen. The hanyou jumped in surprise.
"What the hell?" he snapped at the intrusive blonde.
Scotty pulled herself from the fridge with chocolate frosting smeared on her face. She'd been attacking half a cake left in there. Yusuke noticed the butterfly bandage above her eyebrow, the black eye that had gone down slightly, and the wrapping on her arm.
"You look like shit." He told the girl flatly, offering her a napkin to clean her face. She pulled her headphones down around her neck with a quizzical l ook.
"Wha?"
"You look like shit." He repeated, wondering if her ears were ringing. She listened to her music way too loud. Then he poked beside the cut on her head, making her wince.
"Gee thanks," she frowned, tilting her head back from him.
"Goddamnit Scotty go put on some damn pants!" Vince snapped at her, making her tilt her head.
"But," she pouted, still chocolate smeared. "its Pantsless Pancake Dance Wednesday."
"Did I miss it?" Josh ran in as if cued, sliding on the tile in his socks, wearing boxers and a muscle shirt. Yusuke wondered why everyone was half naked.
"No!" she beamed excitedly. "I was about to start the pancakes."
"I love Pantsless Pancake Day!" he clapped and began to help her set up for breakfast.
"What's going on?" the dark haired boy asked as eggs and buttermilk were shoved into his hands to be put onto the counter.
"It's Wednesday." She grinned happily, ignoring the pulling it caused against the split in her lip. "Wednesday mornings are Pantsless Pancake Dance days."
"Right." He nodded, not bothering to ask further questions. "So, what, you're going to dance in your underwear?"
"While making pancakes," she nodded, cleaning her face. "Do you-"
"Scotty! Do not ask the Japanese kid to take off his pants!" Vince yelled. She stuck her tongue out at him. He couldn't understand her words, but she'd be damned if he didn't always know what was about to come out of her mouth.
"Yusuke." Yusuke turned to Vince with a glare, his accent thick. "My name is Yusuke, not 'the Japanese Kid'."
"Oh, you speak English all of the sudden?" the blonde demanded, slamming a cabinet closed.
"Tell him I understand more than I can speak. The words are still hard for me." The hanyou stared at the battered girl.
"The Japanese kid said he understands more than he speaks, so shut up." She recited with a shrug, mixing ingredients into a large blue bowl. Yusuke, aggravated, tugged her hair.
"That's not what I said!"
"Close enough." She shoved the bowl into his hands. "Mix this."
"How ya feeling? You got pretty beat on." He asked as Josh began to fry bacon across the kitchen from them. Personally, he was surprised she hadn't healed yet. He would have.
"I'm sore, bruised." She shrugged. "Just another day at the office."
"Whose Wade?" his tone lowered, feeling the weight of this subject. He'd heard her mention the name the night before. He understood that someone had threatened the two men in the house. She went still, having been in the process of making biscuits.
"He's just a name." she muttered quietly.
"Did he just say Wade?" Vince jumped in. "Scotty, what happened last night?"
"We were attacked on the job. I," she licked her lips and went to kneading the dough in her hands roughly. "I stayed back to fight. One of the men said they worked for Wade."
"Does he know where-"
"Yes." She looked hard at the dough before ripping into the pieces that would become biscuits. "He knows where we live."
"Fuck." He ran his hand through his hair. Josh had turned to stare at them with fear clear in his eyes. "We'll move again."
"I'm tired of moving. I like it here." She argued. "I'll just handle it this time. We don't have a choice. He keeps finding us."
"You aren't strong enough!" he yelled.
"I could be!" she yelled back. "Think of how much stronger I am now than when we left. Of how much damage I did then, compared to what I could do now. I could be stronger than him."
"Scotty, he'll tear you apart." He whispered. She threw the dough ball on the counter and rubbed her eyes. It littered her hair and cheeks with flour.
"Who is this guy?" Yusuke asked quietly, again.
"Vince can explain it to you." She shoved away from the counter and stalked off. "I don't have the energy for this."
"Scotty!" Josh yelled. "Don't go!"
He followed her out of the kitchen, leaving Vince alone with the hanyou. Yusuke glanced out of the corner of his eyes to the eldest member of the house.
"It's easier to show you." The blonde man pushed off the counter and turned off the oven, the bacon left smoke hanging the air as it burned to a blackened crisp. His face was somber. "You ever try to leave something behind, but you can't? Like when gum sticks to your shoe, it always seem to be there even after you think you've peeled it off."
Yusuke just nodded. "Yeah."
"Come on, let's introduce you to Wade." He lead the hanyou into the living room. Scotty was nowhere to be seen. Yusuke frowned, slightly uncomfortable in the house without her there. This was her place, her friend, not his.
He sat on the couch and settled in as Vince fiddled with a drawer under the television. He had pulled out three video cassettes, making Yusuke raise his eyebrows. There was VCR pulled out next, then wired to the TV. The dark eyed hanyou hadn't seen one of those in a few years.
It took a second of tracking, but soon there was a video playing as Josh remerged from the back.
"All along, I was searching for my Lenore, in the words of Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. Now I'm sober and 'Nevermore' will the Raven come to bother me at home."
The girl singing on the screen was small, frail, pale and blonde. Her hair was the color of snow in the sunlight, her eyes a startling green in the paleness of the rest of her. The dress she wore had one shoulder and was much shorter in the front than the back, the same color of her grass green eyes. Black trim of lace marked the top and bottom and trimmed the train pooling behind her.
Yusuke sat still, watching as she sang the song, dancing so elegantly, slowly, to the music. It was heart rendering, watching this fragile thing sing out her soul and he felt like he could see her heart breaking in every move she made.
But her eyes, they were fierce and angry. The only part of her that didn't fit.
"I miss watching her dance." Josh admitted to Vince, who nodded slightly. Yusuke leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and noticed something had changed. He could see the audience, and there was a man up front with red hair and dark eyes watching the girl like she was the fire that kept him warm at night. A gentle light spread through the crowd, a web, touching everyone and they all seemed to relax visibly under its influence. It seemed to weave straight through their chests and between their bodies.
"I run a secret propaganda, Aren't we all hiding pieces of broken anger, I'm just trying to remember who I can call, Who can I call?"
The light turned red and people started to scream as it constricted around them. The red haired man was on his feet, seething, shouting, but the girl's voice continued to ring through the crowd as she danced. Her eyes were glowing brightly and the spotlights shining on her began to flicker.
The crowd was falling now, burns visible even in the dim light they sat in. Some stopped moving as the light grew brighter, stronger, and the man was on the stage, grabbing the girl by the arm. She sang her last line with a smile on her face.
"Will you remember my name? Will you play it again, if you like this?"
She fought against the hold on her now, angry. Her hand lashed out, leaving claw marks raking down the side of his face, and he sent her to the floor. His hand was glowing and she cried out, writhing, but the light was winding around his ankles. She screamed and he fell, screaming too as it bound his legs and burned through his pants.
Yusuke couldn't look away as the girl crawled over the man, hovering on all fours above him. Her hand when between them and stripped his belt out of its housing. It took a second to recognize the black whip Scotty always had close at hand. The whip glowed the same angry red as got to her feet, the light seemingly collecting in it. She unleashed her fury one stroke at a time, flaying the man under her without hesitation, repeatedly swinging her arm down, down, down, down. He was ribbons and screaming still when the TV was turned off.
Scotty was standing behind the couch, her face empty.
"I was weaker then." She looked at her reflection in the screen, hardening herself. "Not anymore. I will never be his pet again."
"That was you?" Yusuke blinked back into reality. "Scotty, wh-"
"Wade Jackson was a connoisseur of talent. He could take one look at you and tell you exactly what you loved to do the most, what you were the best at. For me, it was dancing, it's what I wanted more than anything to do. Ballet, tap, jazz, anything, as long as it let me dance. He gave me my dreams on a silver platter." She turned to look at the hanyou emptily. "I should've read the fine print engraved on the bottom of the plate."
He swallowed, then stood up.
"Let's kick his ass then." He offered, clenching his fist with a grin, "I haven't had a single good fight since I set foot in this lame ass town."
"You're insane." She told him coolly. "Wade isn't someone you just go looking for-"
"Why not?" he huffed. "I'm not worried about some scrub club owner."
"He's more than that!" She yelled at him. "He nearly killed us, Yusuke!"
"Us?" he blinked.
"Yes, us. How do you think I met Vince and Annabelle?" she grit her teeth. "This monster is the reason we're a family, and at one point, we all loved him. But we feared him more! You can't just charge in like the Light Brigade, Yusuke!"
He snorted in contempt. "I'm not that easy to scare, or kill, Scotty."
"Well I am." She snapped. "And so far all I've seen you do is kill a fucking vulture, so forgive me if I don't have the confidence in you that you have! I took you on a mission to save someone's life and all you could do was stare around like a scared little boy!"
"I don't kill people!" he yelled back at her, his temper growing.
"Lucky you!" she screamed back. She couldn't help it, she swung a punch at him. He moved too fast for her to see and suddenly her back was biting into the floor as the breath rushed from her lungs. His large hand was covering her throat, squeezing ever so gently.
"I wasn't scared." He told her in a growl. "Where I come from, we have clear sides. There are demons and there are people. Monsters and innocents."
"The line isn't clear cut here," she hissed. "We all have a memory in both puddles, Yusuke. We straddle the wall, we don't get to choose a side."
He let her go. Vince stared at him in angry shock.
"You hurt her!" he complained, rushing to his smaller friend's aid. Annabelle came out from her room, looking half asleep, and stared at them.
"Why are you all making so much noise?" she grumbled.
"Yusuke attacked Scotty!" Josh pointed.
"I swung first," the dark haired girl glared at everyone. "I've got somewhere else to be. Get off of me."
She shrugged her friends off and stormed out of the house. Yusuke frowned, moving to follow. Vince grabbed his arm.
"You ever hurt her again and I'll kill you myself," he sneered. The hanyou just shrugged him off as well and went after the girl.
"What the hell was that about?" Annabelle demanded of the two remaining men.
"Wade is back." Josh summarized, making her stare at the door. "Yusuke wants to hunt him down."
She rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen. "Why are men so irrational?"
Scotty was buried in the park, hidden behind a wall of trees, repeatedly punching an oak like it would solver her problems. Yusuke walked up and she felt the energy roll of him for the first time and stopped to glare at him.
"Go away." She warned, reaching for her whip.
"Don't do it, Scotty. I don't want to fight you." He warned her darkly. "I didn't even sense you as a demon, do you know what that means?"
"That you're an idiot?" she guessed.
"That you're so low on the totem pole it doesn't even register on my radar of danger." He explained coldly to her. "Whatever you're thinking about this Wade guy, I don't think you can do it."
"You don't know shit from mud," she pointed at him.
"What, you can help me with my problem, but I can't help you?" he huffed. "Listen, you got your ass kicked by a bunch of humans. How can you think you can beat someone you're this afraid of?"
"I'm angry enough!" she yelled. "That's all I need!"
"No it isn't!" he yelled back. She pulled the whip, struck out and it bit through his skin twice. Once on the cheek, the other on his arm as he lifted it to defend his face. She snorted as if to prove this was enough to make him wrong.
But he'd met a more powerful whip user before.
He twisted his arm around and pulled hard, the whip cut into his skin, but it threw her off balance. She tightened her grip on the handle, but it only made it easier for him to drag her closer. Then he kicked her legs out from under her, sending her to the ground. He channeled his energy into his finger tip and pointed it at her while she lie breathless.
"Scotty, I'm one of the highest classes of demons there is." She grimaced. "I can help you. I really can. It's what I'm trained to do."
"I'm not risking anyone else on this asshole." She shook her head. "I've lost someone already, I won't lose another friend."
He stepped back and helped her to her feet, but she just remained sitting cross legged on the ground. He sat beside her.
"When I was born, I was abandoned. I don't know what really happened, but I don't remember much until I was about three." She started to explain to him. He nodded. "Auntie Cambrie found me digging through a trashcan in nothing but a big tee shirt. She took me in, gave me a life, put me in school."
"She was the closest thing I had to family. She always called me her special gift, because her husband had died years before and they had never had children. From early on she knew I wasn't human, but she treated me like I was her own. Except she asked me to call her Aunt, instead of Mom, so that no one would question where I came from since everyone knew she couldn't have children."
"When I was fifteen, I met Vince. He was a photographer. He started to use me as a model. He loved my blonde hair and green eyes and I used to be tan." She chuckled at that memory. "I let him do pretty much anything because I trusted him. He was like a brother. He is like a brother to me. But with Vince came strings, the thickest of which was named Wade."
"Wade saw the pictures of me and asked to meet me. He told me he could make my dreams come true, I could be a professional dancer. It was all I wanted to be. My childhood dream. Auntie Cambrie had danced ballet in her youth and I loved the pictures of her, I loved to go to the theaters she took me to. I told her about his offer, but she didn't trust it. She always warned me about things that seemed too good."
"I told Vince and he told Wade. Vince tried to cut ties with me, tried to hide me in his life, but Wade had caught my scent. He wanted me for his collection. He killed Cambrie, but I didn't know it then. Then he consoled me at the funeral, where my heart was left shattered over her grave, and I had nowhere to go but with him."
Yusuke was quiet, listening. She stared out in front of them, clutching her whip, and holding her knees to her chest now.
"At first it was heaven. I was in every dance class that I could find the time for. Morning to night all I did was breath dance. And there was Vince. I was happy. I felt like I belonged somewhere. I met Annabelle, she was one of his dancers too. Wade made me feel like I was loved unconditionally."
"What happened?" the hanyou asked curiously. "What changed?"
"Wade discovered my specialty." She looked at her hands. "He figured out that every person has a light, and when I touch that light, I can sort of manipulate them. Not a whole lot, I can't change their minds, but I could make them comfortable. I could make them love me, with enough pressure, for a little while. When I began to dance on stage, and to sing, he'd have me create a web from person to person, forcing the crowd to believe they needed to see me again."
"Sort of like auras?" he suggested.
"No, it's different. It's like… it's like touching someone's inner essence." She tried to explain and failed. "Look, when I focus on you I see a blue light. It radiates from inside you, here." She touched two fingers to his chest, above his heart. Her hand glowed slightly and he felt his muscles loosen as relaxation fell over him. She pulled her hand back.
"See?"
He shook it off like a daze. "So, does everyone have a light? I mean, people and demons alike?"
"Not all demons, because I think the light is reflection of one's humanity." She shrugged. "I don't know a whole lot about it, which is embarrassing. I sort of have to learn as I go. But I know, that any light helps me get stronger. Wade knew that too. That's why, after the first time I realized I could use the light to hurt others, he forced me into the basement."
Yusuke looked at her sharply. "What?"
"One of the customers got handsy." She shrugged. "I didn't know what was happening. I just got angry. The light around him turned red, and I wanted him to learn his lesson. It scared his hands when it burned him. Wade was pissed."
"He put you in the basement?" he repeated.
"Yeah." She shuddered. "I can't be strong without light, Yusuke. We learned that. I can't create it from nothing unless I have a good store of energy. So Wade would keep me in the basement, in the pitch darkness, so that I'd be weak. I got enough energy to live off of the spotlights, but the rest of my life was black."
"You don't realize how important light is, until you're forced to live in pure darkness."
The hanyou listened to her words and hated this unknown enemy for causing her that pain. She seemed like a good person, she tried so hard to help others and to keep others safe. It enraged him that someone could hurt her so badly.
"Wow, is that your energy?" she asked, turning to him with wide eyes at the signals sliding off of him. He blinked and calmed down.
"Yeah. I told you, I'm a King in the Makai. I'm one of the strongest demons there."
"Christ." She stared away from him. "I thought you were being arrogant."
"Not so much," he laughed.
"Alright." She nodded, looking at him. "Listen. I'll let you help me with Wade only if I can actually help you with Keiko."
He shook her hand on that deal. "Agreed. So, what's with your hair? In the pictures and the video, you were blonde."
"I'm naturally blonde," she explained. "But we've been in hiding for about eight months. I had to cut my hair and dye it so that people wouldn't recognize me. I got my tan back too and started to put weight back on."
"He starved you?" he growled.
"No, but I danced all the time, Yusuke. That tends to burn some calories," she chuckled. "I eat like a hungry horse half the time."
"So, how are you going to help me with Keiko?" he asked her, and she grinned a devious smile.
"I have a plan!"
"Operation Win Her Heart is in full swing!" Scotty announced, back to being good natured, once they got back to the house. Annabelle groaned and Vince shook his head.
"Why are we helping this prick again?" he asked.
"Because Yusuke is my friend, and he's going to help me kill Wade." She waved off further questions. "Here's the plan. We remind Keiko why she loved Yusuke in the first place at the same time showing her how much he's matured. We give her a glimpse of Yusuke 2.0, then ship him back to sweep her off her feet!"
"How do we do that?" Annabelle asked dully.
"First, we start with little forget-me-nots. Send her some postcards, flowers, remember important events in her life even though he's half a world away. He already talks to her all the time, so that part should be easy." The excitable dark haired woman explained.
"And when are we going to start that?"Yusuke asked.
"Today." She nodded to herself.
"What are we going to do?"
""Send her flowers! Come on, today has to mean something." Scotty poked the boy in the forehead.
"It's the first day we kissed." He blushed, and she gave him a sly look.
"Perfect."
"Send her a stripper." Vince glared at the hanyou darkly. "Women love strippers."
"That's enough out of you." Annabelle dug her knuckles into the drunk's scalp. "Scotty is being serious. We'll be serious too."
"But I don't like him."
"Then go to your room."
"Anyways," Scotty took over the conversation again. "So, where did you kiss?"
"On the beach. It was the day I came from Makai after three years. She waited for me the whole time," he smiled happily. "There's never been a girl like Keiko."
"The beach. That's romantic." She grinned. "Alright, so, we send her a bouquet of flowers that will remind her of the beach with a card that reminds her of what happened. Come on, let's call some florists."
Koenma was sitting at his desk talking to Kurama and Kuwabara, filing papers as usual, when the screen automatically lowered in front of him and Yusuke's face came to life on it. The toddler fell out of his chair, and the other two jumped at the sound of their friend's voice.
"Hey Pacifier Breath, guys." He grinned at them.
"Gah! Yusuke!" Kuwabara ran to the screen. "How's it going man?"
"Not too bad. I found a job and some people to hang out with. Actually, that's why I'm calling. Can you look into a demon named Wade Jackson for me? He's an American. He's known for using people's desires to trap them in deals." He explained.
"Why do you need to know that?" Koenma raised an eyebrow.
"It's for a friend of mine, Scotty." He shrugged.
"Is this friend in trouble?"
"Not yet, but might be. I'm just trying to help out. Scotty is helping me with Keiko." He grinned. "Got to go, it's almost time for work. Let me know, alright?"
The screen went black, leaving the three to stare at it.
"Uh, what the hell was that?"Kuwabara asked. "And who is Scotty? Urameshi is awful at making friends outside of us."
"Maybe he's learned some new skills." Kurama suggested. "He did say that this guy was helping him with Keiko. Maybe they have mutual problems with women."
Kazuma shrugged, turning to Koenma. "So, you gonna look into it for him?"
"No, you are." The toddler smiled. "It'll keep you two busy."
Yusuke walked home after his shift, tired but happy. Keiko's flowers should arrive in the morning, and he knew she'd love them. Annabelle and Scotty both helped pick them out. They used a lot of blue, because it was her favorite color. He wrote a note telling her he missed her, and reminded her of their first kiss.
He got to the hotel he'd been staying in and found his stuff packed on the street. Frowning, he gathered his bag and marched into the lobby.
"No, you, get out!" the manager pointed at him. "You didn't pay the rent, so we kicked you out. Unless you have back rent and next months, we don't want your business. I'm not about to be taken advantage by some freeloader."
"What the hell? I paid upfront!" he argued, his accent thick.
"Yeah, not enough to cover the last week." He snapped back.
"Where am I supposed to go?" he couldn't quite push that question out in English, so he earned a strange look. "Where is your phone?"
"Hey."
Yusuke looked up from where he sat on the curb and Scotty looked down at him with a placating smile. He was glowering. She held a frog bubble umbrella, complete with floppy eyes that blew in the wind, over the spot where he sat. The rain had been beating down on him for about twenty minutes.
"Come on." She bent down and picked up one of his bags. Her headphones were around her neck again, and she was wearing her long shorts and low-tops with a plain orange tank top. "We have an extra room."
"Every time I start to fall here, you appear to push me back onto my feet, you know that?" he told her, rising to walk beside her with his duffle bag in hand.
"I've told you, it's what friends are for." She grinned at him.
"Still, thanks." He shrugged awkwardly. "I asked some of my friends to look into Wade for us, see if they can dig up anything worthwhile."
"Thanks." She nodded to the beat. Silence fell between them until she broke it. "I mean, honestly, I don't mind helping at all. Neither does Annabelle. We remember what it was like for us."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Wanting to be human." She told him like it was the easiest thing in the world to see. "We used to hate ourselves for being different too, but eventually, you learn humanity is something you don't have to be human to attain. I know a lot worse people than demons. But, you're still in that place, so I want to help you, because there was no one there to help me, really."
He stared at her. He wanted to tell her he didn't want to be human, he liked himself this way, but it wasn't true. If he were human still, it would fix everything. He and Keiko could be together without thinking about it. He wouldn't feel like a monster sometimes.
"Do you ever feel like a monster just because you're a demon?" he asked quietly.
"All the time." She admitted with that sunny smile, turning to him. "But then I remember that I chose not to become a real monster. I chose to help people. It doesn't bother me as much when I see it that way. I've realized that I'm a demon, I can't change that. I'm happy with who I am now, because if I weren't a demon, I wouldn't be Scotty. Just like you wouldn't be Yusuke."
For a few minutes they walked under the shared umbrella, held a lot higher in her hands because of his height. He took it from her, because her arm sagged and it hit him in the head with every step.
"So, what's the deal with sunflower?" he asked, to start a conversation. She laughed, shrugging.
"It's the nickname Vince gave me when we first met. He said with my blonde hair and green eyes, and the fact I was always covered in dirt, I looked like a sunflower. After he discovered I was a light demon, it stuck, because sunflowers always follow the path of the light."
He nodded. "That makes some sense, I guess."
She just laughed again as they walked, leaving him to consider his thoughts as the rain made the bottom of his pants wet.
Preview:
"Maybe," she rocked from her heels to her toes and back a few times. "I don't know."
"Come on," he poked at her. "You know you want to."
"Hmm." She played with the idea.
"Come on." He drawled out.
"Fine." Scotty sighed, glaring playfully at him. "Let's see what you got."