(A/N): Back again! Travel was awesome but I'm very happy to be home. Hope this chapter make up for the wait! As always, much love to Soto for the support. I do my best to put out something I would want to read so maybe others would too.
Thanks for pointing out the massive paragraphs. It looked reasonable on my extension screen. Hope this runs better!
~Yasha's Sis
Chapter 5
Heartache
Our space shifted and I hardly cringed that time. He still radiated amusement at my response.
I kicked him in retaliation.
Even though, we'd been here for quite some time now, I still couldn't fully get use to the random movements of our space. I think it was shrinking. I didn't even have to flex my soul to feel the boarders anymore. Also, it was a weird prison.
The walls always seemed to move.
*~ADMW~*
"That is enough." A deep baritone called.
Immediately, two bodies collapsed to their knees, gasping breaths fitting the rhythmic thumping of students hitting the hanging bags and training posts. Yusuke coughed hard enough to hurt his ribs and allowed himself to fall onto his back. His chest heaved with an effort to get more oxygen despite the ache of his body with each breath and his knowledge that remaining on the ground after a workout like that only hurt his recovering muscles. His sister, Izumi, was in just as bad a shape if not worse. Yusuke had the better endurance of the two but she was faster. She could get around his hits quick enough to use the openings he left. Yusuke didn't mind. Fighting a faster opponent only made him work harder and when he did land a hit, it counted.
Izumi was working on her stamina so she played the dodging game and refrained from retaliating. She either blocked his strikes, evaded them, or took them full on. But, when she decided to fight back, Izumi made sure the one blow made a difference, either slowing him down or giving her enough room for some breathing space. The old bastard said they both needed to work on their weaknesses this phase and the Urameshi twins took to the training regime with vigor. Yusuke because he loved to fight, Izumi because she didn't want to fall behind and get thrashed any time she and her brother got in a tussle. She still lost to him 6 out of 10 times. A shadow fell over the young boy's face- when did I close my eyes?- and Yusuke cracked tired brown eyes to see the bearded face of his hellmaster.
"You are still not fast enough. Mimi-chan can run circles around you, Kitten." Yusuke bristled at the endearment he vehemently believed to be both feminine and lame.
"Stop calling me that! And I'm getting faster. She can't hit me as much as she used to." The bastard made a noncommittal sound that made the small boy twitch.
"Sure you are." The man replied easily. "But so is she. Now, get up. Show me where you're at, if you impress me, I'll run you through the next set of drills and we'll call it a day." Yusuke groaned. More sets? He just finished mastering the last one yesterday. Why couldn't he do something cooler? Like sparing the older boys. Yusuke pushed himself into a sitting position with a scowl. Izumi was great and all but they fought together so often that he could almost anticipate her next move. They'd get into a stalemate unless one surprised the other or Izumi began flagging because of her weaker stamina. Yusuke wanted to test himself against an unknown. Besides, sets were boring!
"Ow." The bear of a man drew his hand away from swatting the boy and leveled Yusuke a disapproving glare. It's like he can read my mind. Taking the censure with his usual grace, which involved much muttering and dark looks in Katsukashi's general direction, Yusuke stretched before falling into the starting stance of his set. As he worked through the kata he could manage in his sleep, the dark haired boy spared a glance for his sister. Izumi was back on her feet but staring at the far wall as she waited for the old man to give her instructions. His sister was patient like that, which was why Kashi-jiji always made sure to provide a task for the boy to accomplish first or risk Yusuke trying to fight the older boys and or get himself hurt by playing with things he could handle. Yusuke flushed slightly in embarrassment as he remembered how he broke his foot last time he tried to lift the heavier kilos and suffered Izumi's teasing for weeks afterwards. He hadn't done it again but the old man didn't seem to trust him alone for longer than three minutes. Yusuke counted!
The boy drew himself from his thoughts just as his sister's face shifted into a sad look. Judging by the tilt of her head, she was looking at Ma's plaque of the 6 competitions she won while fighting. It'd been a month since they'd last seen their mother, over two years since she dumped them in Katsukashi's care. At first Yusuke was angry, did their mother not want them anymore, but after bitching about it in front of the old man, his bitterness had diminished. There were some bad people who their mother associated with and they didn't need to have two kids hanging around and be at risk of getting hurt.
Yusuke hadn't understood at first, Izumi had to explain it better, but it still bothered him that they couldn't live with their mother. The older twin thought his sister hadn't cared as much initially, she never said a bad word against their mother in all the time they stayed with Katsukashi, but occasionally, when she though no one was paying attention, Izumi would gaze at the wall bearing their mother's name and look so sad. Never angry though. It made Yusuke wonder though he never brought it up. Whatever it was that ran through his sister's head during this time was hers to think about and hers alone. She rarely asked for privacy and Yusuke wasn't one to push with her. After the first time, he learned she kept things to herself for a reason.
"Good." The old man praised drawing a smirk from the boy's mouth. Good meant fantastic in Katsu speak. The old man was hard as hell to please. "Here are the next moves. Slide your leg forward- no your other leg- yes and bend your knees more- not that much! Yes. Breathe and turn." Yusuke's brow crinkled in concentration as he committed each and every piece of advice to memory. Izumi often teased him that the only way you could get something to stick to his mind was to relate it back to fighting. The boy denied the accusation loudly but secretly agreed with her. He was blessed with the Urameshi one track mind as his Ma used to say. A detriment to academic learning maybe but it made picking up stuff like this easy. The rest of the set went much the same and Yusuke let out a breath of relief when Kashi-jiji called a halt. Yusuke was startled to see his sister had vanished while he was in his KMA (Kick Major Ass) mode as Izumi dubbed the narrow-minded focus he gained when training. Noticing his searching look, his sensei cleared his throat.
"She's cleaning up, kitten. Hurry and join her." The beard rustled as Kashi gave it a brief thoughtful stroke. "I have a surprise for you both if you're quick." Perking slightly at the comment, Yusuke hurried to the back door leading to the gym's alleyway. Yusuke jogged down the pavement, spared a quick glance back, before grinning and loping into a sprint. Yusuke ran down the alley, dodging crates and boxes until he came to the half lowered ladder of the adjacent building. Taking a running leap, Yusuke grunted as he caught the last rung of the ladder and pulled himself up the rungs with his arms until he could pull his foot up to the bar. Kashi would have a fit if he knew the twins took the rooftops back to his house whenever they headed home without him. The old man was a mother hen when he wasn't drilling them into the ground.
The seven year old boy leapt over ledges and dangled from building edges until he reached the arcade roof. After a quick glance around and no notice of any persons of interest, Urameshi Yusuke jumped onto the fire escape of the next building and used the stairs to reach the ground. Two rights and a left later he tugged out his key and unlocked the door. Pushing his way into the entrance way, Yusuke shouted a greeting to Mrs. Umino and kicked off his shoes. The woman fussed about loud children but Yusuke ignored her as he sprinted up the stairs to his room. The shower was running down the hall so he knew his sister was getting ready, he'd have to go downstairs and use Kashi-jiji's bathroom if he wanted to finish in any respectable time. Yusuke grimaced, which meant he'd have to pass Mrs. Umino on the way there and endure her nagging. Damn Izumi for finishing earlier than him. He may have been a natural, but his sister was scary motivated to keep up with him. Kashi called Yusuke lazy because he didn't do things as many times as her, but the simple fact was he didn't need to. It irked his sister to no end and once the old man caught on he started giving Yusuke harder and harder sets. Despite complaining, Yusuke was thrilled with the attention. Who wouldn't want to learn how to kick ass and take names?
Twenty minutes later, after fibbing to Mrs. Umino about needing to run an errand for Katsukashi five minutes into her derogatory rant, Yusuke emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed and just the slightest bit curious about what the old man wanted to show them. He headed to the entry way. Taking special care to remain quiet so Mrs. Umino wouldn't hear him- the woman had bat ears!- Yusuke made it to the bottom of the staircase in front of the hall that led to the exit without incident. Dark brown eyes brightened when he spotted Izumi seated on the second to last step balancing a ball on her outstretched leg. She wore faded dark blue jean shorts with an orange and white striped tank top. Without their mother there to cut it, Izumi let her hair grow out and tied the mid back length mass into a high ponytail. The girl paused in her balancing act and smiled widely when Yusuke came into view.
"I swear you do it on purpose." Yusuke blinked before looking down at his unintentionally mirrored outfit of shorts and a red striped tank top. He flushed as his sister laughed.
"It's hot outside! I wasn't trying to copy you." It was bad enough people who didn't know them confused the two. Thankfully it wasn't as bad with Izumi's hair long but strangers still occasionally thought them both girls. Izumi cried every time from laughing so hard. He blamed his mother for buying them so many complementary outfits. Izumi opened her mouth to probably tease him further when Mrs. Umino's voice echoed from the kitchen.
"What did I tell you two about speaking that Western nonsense in this house?! I know what you're doing even if Katsukashi refuses to listen." The twins winced and darted to the door as they heard the heavy foot falls of the woman heading their way. They didn't stop running until they were on the block and out of sight of the house. Yusuke spared a sour look back as they slowed into a walk.
"Ugh. Hag." Izumi giggled and did not disagree. Kashi's maid was an absolute horror. The twins did their best to stay out of sight around the ancient woman when they could. The fact that she seemed convinced their father was some white westerner only increase the woman's suspicious nature of them. Mrs. Umino hated Western culture and all things associated with it. She felt that only a native speaking parent would have been able to teach them any English for their young age. Katsukashi told her it was ridiculous that she heard them speak any language other than Japanese, Atsuko couldn't speak a lick of English and the twins were Japanese through and through. He asked her to keep her prejudice to herself, which she did when he wasn't out of earshot, but she still managed to get across the distain she felt whenever she heard the twins speaking in that foreign tongue. Yusuke and Izumi took special pleasure in making Kashi think the old woman was a bit senile because they never spoke their language in front of him.
Over time the reactions they got from people hearing them speak English concerned the twins so they limited it to when they were particularly stress or excited and alone. Yusuke didn't know how they knew a version of English. He'd asked Izumi once and she got this strange lost look on her face before saying she'd always know it. Yusuke couldn't really disagree but it was still weird. The old woman wasn't abusive to them, she was just pushy and overbearing and well an absolute pain in the ass. Still, it was fun to prank her into incoherent rants of bigotry. Honestly Yusuke never paid her any mind when she went into one of her episodes but they were lengthy and he could only pretend to listen for so long before he walked away and got in even more trouble for disrespect. It was unfair, really.
Izumi dropped the soccer ball back to the ground and rolled it to her foot. She somehow managed to dribble the ball while keeping pace with Yusuke as they made their way back to the gym. Yusuke tried not to kick the ball away out of jealousy. Her eyes caught sight of a pedestrian walking towards them and she switched to Japanese. "Any idea what Kashi-jiji wants to show us?" Yusuke tilted his head in thought and pulled out his yoyo. Kashi told them to get hobbies other than brawling one another in the street and Yusuke was having trouble with his second one. Doing tricks with a yoyo were hard.
"For once, no. It's probably for our birthday though. He usually sucks at hiding things from us for long." His sister snorted before releasing a short curse as the ball bounced too high and she timed it wrong, kicking it away and down the sidewalk. Kashi's version of surprise wouldn't catch a blind, dumb and deaf man unawares. The fact that their guardian managed to keep this one under wraps had Yusuke excited. It had to be good then.
The twins speculated as they turned the last corner to the gym. Their ideas ranged from a new set of weights to the traditional martial artist clothes modeled by the competitors Yusuke gushed about –I don't gush!- when they watched the tournament last spring. Brown eyes crinkled in amusement as Izumi mimicked Mrs. Umino's reaction to Kashi giving them a karaoke set with Western music for Christmas. Sometimes Yusuke thought the old man enjoyed their harassment of the older woman as much as they did. Izumi turned around dribbling backwards as she faced him to end the reenactment. Yusuke grinned at her but something caught his attention over her shoulder. A dark blue sedan was parked out front of the gym. Normally this wouldn't have been worth noticing but two men in suits were standing outside the door to the car facing the gym.
I don't like this.
The young boy's gaze darted around for an escape and spotted a narrow gap between the two squat buildings leading up to the gym entrance. Izumi's smile faltered at Yusuke's change in mood but she kept talking at his abortive motion with his hand. The girl blinked and kept speaking. She only nodded her head slightly when Yusuke flicked his gaze beside them. Yusuke had to admire the ease at which the twins could read one another. The girl jabbered on, bouncing the ball until a harder knock tipped the ball to the right sending it into the alley. She made a noise of distress but loudly complained that since they had to go get the ball anyway they should just take the back way home. Yusuke followed her with a long suffering air and the two disappeared into the gap just wide enough for them to walk shoulder to shoulder if they chose. Izumi scooped up the ball and gave Yusuke a questioning look as the shadow of the alley engulfed them.
The boy grimaced. "I didn't like how they looked. They remind me of the creep who used to sniff around Ma." Izumi, not having seen the men Yusuke spoke of, nodded slowly with a pensive look on her face. The twins followed the walkway to the wider one that ran perpendicular to the gym's and turned left. After reaching the back entrance, Yusuke quietly twisted the knob and pulled the door open just fast enough to keep the squeak from chirping. Izumi followed behind him, careful to keep the closing of the door silent. Yusuke turned back to ask her if they should wait here when raised voices caught his ear, both of whom he recognized. Izumi put her ball on the ground quickly before she ghosted to the front of the hallway and reached the wooden door cracked open from Yusuke's departure.
"-can't anymore! It's been over two years. It's never going to change!" A woman's voice snapped causing Yusuke's eyes to widen. Ma?
"You claimed you wanted them safe, Atsuko. They are safe here. Yusuke's got more potential than even you. He could be great if you let him finish and Izumi has the fastest hands I've ever seen is one so young. This is good for them."
Atsuko's voice was acidic in her reply. "You're not listening to me. They. Can't. They're asking where my kids are. I can't hide them forever or it looks like I don't trust them."
"You shouldn't!" Katsukashi roared back, startling the kids eavesdropping behind the door. Kashi never raised his voice. "They'll try and bind the little ones to them just as they ensnared you. Don't do this, Koko."
"I'm their mother. I know how to keep them from those bastards. Don't act like you know what's best, Katsukashi! You couldn't have kids, remember?!" Silence followed their mother's statement and Yusuke frowned when his sister took in a sharp breath. The creaking of a chair was heard and slow steps echoed in the quiet of the gym. Their mother's response was plaintive. "Kashi, I didn't mean that-"
Kashi's voice was cold as he cut her off. "I won't watch you place them on this path. Take them and go." Yusuke's hand tightened on his sister's- when had they caught hands?- and his chest felt strangely tight.
"Kashi don't be like that. You could at least wait-"
"There is nothing left to say." The man bit out. "You're right. They aren't mine. They're yours to do with as you please so keep them out of my sight." Light abruptly spilled on the twins as Katsukashi snatched the door open. Yusuke saw the look of surprise on his face before horror and shame took its place but he hardly registered the emotions.
"Mimi, Kitten…" Large hands reached for them as an apology started to spill from his lips but by then Yusuke was running. He sprinted past the startled woman who bore them, crashed open the building's door and dodged around the goons posted on the sidewalk beside the sedan. Yusuke ran and ran and ran ignoring the ache of his lungs and the stinging of his eyes. All he kept track of was the warm hand still in his grasp and the heavy breathing of his sister as she ran beside him. They ran out of Kaidan and out of the city limits. They ran until the buildings were no grander than a suburban household and they didn't stop until they reached the tree line of a small wood that Izumi had found one day after playing tag. Yusuke's vision was a blur as they reached their tree, situated in the center of the forested area and large enough to sit comfortably on a branch should they climb.
Yusuke punched the bark hardly feeling the sting of his skin splitting in the heat of his anger. How could he say that? He was the closest thing Yusuke had to a grandfather and he goes and says stuff like that?! Katsukashi hugged them and made them feel like when they accomplished something, it was the best damn accomplishment in the world. He was more of a mother to them than theirs ever was and yet he threw them away, like trash. Like Ma had two years prior.
"Yusuke…" The boy turned to the voice and registered the tear streaked face of his younger sister but he couldn't bring himself to calm down.
"He lied to us." The boy hissed, striking the bark of the tree once again. "He said he'd take care of us, Izumi." Another punch to the bark. "He said he wouldn't let us go!" And Another. "He taught you how to play soccer and taught me how to throw a baseball." Another. "He taught us both how to punch without breaking anything and where to aim if you really want to hurt someone." Another. "He read us stories and tucked us in and called us stupid nicknames like Mimi and Kitten." Sobs accompanied each strike of flesh until Yusuke was gasping in between words. "He said he loved us, Izumi." Yusuke pulled his arm back to throttle the tree again but small hands held on tight and pulled the boy away from the bloodied trunk. Yusuke stiffened when his sister pulled him into a hug, tears still running free down each of his cheeks, as the sobs racked his body. Yusuke resisted for a moment longer before he relaxed into his sister's hold and sunk to the ground. "He said he loved us." The boy whispered again, face pressed against the neck of his sibling. "You don't throw away what you love." Izumi didn't say anything for a while, she just let Yusuke rant and rave and cry until he sniffled himself into silence.
"He does love us, Yusuke." Her brother stiffened readying himself to push away but Izumi held firm. "Kashi-jiji wouldn't have done all those things if he didn't love us. Watching us is one thing, he did more than that." Yusuke knew she was right, but he didn't want to forgive the man who hurt him so badly.
"Then why did he say those things? Why did he say we weren't his? He told her to take us out of his sight!" Izumi winced in his arms but didn't back down.
"Ma hurt him." Yusuke frowned.
"Yeah. Whatever." The girl sighed and shifted slightly to settle into his arms better.
"Ma was wrong for what she said. Kashi-jiji always wanted kids, don't you remember Mrs. Umino fussing about it before he told her off, he couldn't have kids with his wife and that lady left him. What Ma said- it hurt him and he spoke out of hurt."
Yusuke scoffed in disbelief only to yelp when Izumi poked him in the ribs.
"You did the same thing when I called you stupid." Yusuke scowled recalling the terrible things he said about her sketch hoping to make her feel as bad as he did. Ok, maybe she had a point. That still didn't change how much it hurt to hear Kashi say he didn't want them anymore and he said as much to his sister. Yusuke was surprised at the lack of response from her until wetness trailed onto his ear and down his neck. "I don't know why they're fighting though. I don't understand why they were so mean to each other." Watery brown eyes came into his vision and looked beseechingly at him. "Do you?" Yusuke shook his head slightly and sighed as his sister turned away to sniffle into his shirt. If she didn't know then he sure as heck didn't. Yusuke was the first to admit Izumi had the brains of their operations while Yusuke was the muscle. The boy wasn't surprised when Izumi voiced the thought on both their minds. "I don't want to leave Kashi-jiji."
Yeah well neither did he, but it looked like they weren't going to have much say in the matter.
(A/N): Thoughts, comments, concerns? Kuwabara comes in next chapter! Get up for it! Sorry if it seems a bit rushed. This chapter was harder to write than I expected. Drama!
~Yasha's Sis
