Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters.
Summary: Being a teenager is hard. Just when you think everything's going well, it all suddenly starts to turn complicated. You have to face this drama and that drama. It's one drama after another. Well, that's life.
Broken Lovers
Part I - Beginning: Chapter 8
Botan didn't know how the subject changed from her and Kurama, to the topic of her last night's shenanigans.
"Next time you get drunk enough to strip, I won't forget to bring a camera along with me," Yusuke snickered as he said this.
She made a disgusted face. "You're repulsive, Yusuke."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I'm a guy, so this is completely natural." A quirk of his lips was what she earned. "Too bad I don't remember."
"Ugh! You are such a disgusting pervert!" Botan yelled out angrily, and went up to hit him across the head with her small fist, but as usual, he managed to dodge before she could.
"Every guy is a perv, Bo," he retorted, as if it was a matter of fact. Botan was about to retaliate to say how untrue he was, but then she paused. Most Japanese guys probably don't show that they're sexually attracted to a woman, but men most certainly are always thinking of girls that way. If they don't, would that make them homosexuals?
She erased the weird thoughts that had somehow managed to enter her normally innocent mind. "I don't see Kurama or Hiei drooling whenever they see nude women!" she reasoned, already knowing fully well not to include Kuwabara in her words. During the years she's known the him, she's seen the carrot-top gawking at barely-clothed girls at least a few times.
"Hiei's a midget, and Kurama's gay," Yusuke countered. Good thing Hiei was too busy trying to beat Shizuru in a glaring contest to hear this.
Botan didn't think much about Yusuke's comment about Hiei, but the so-called information about a certain charming redhead caused a frown to be embedded on her forehead. "What?" She then averted her gaze to the addressed teen. "You're gay?"
Kurama heaved out a heavy sigh. "No, I'm not, Botan."
"I know what I felt, redhead! Your stupid fucking ass was pressing against my precious face earlier this morning!" was Yusuke's stupid reply. He cut Botan off before she could even utter out a word.
Emerald eyes rolled – both in annoyance and disbelieve. Annoyance because he certainly did not like this strange talk they were having. Disbelieve because he didn't expect this when he decided to wake up that morning. "Yusuke, I told you, that was an accident."
"Accident, my ass," Yusuke snorted. It took him a full second to register what he just said, and his black eyebrows formed a crease as he looked at Kurama. "Don't you even think of my butt, you hear?"
"I would never think of that, for Pete's sake!"
Yusuke parted his lips to make a smart remark at the sentence, but Keiko – who was now tired of listening to Yusuke's pathetic and unreasonable words – stopped him, due to fear her head would go to places it shouldn't go if this keeps up any longer. "Yusuke, will you stop that? He said that he didn't mean to do it."
"I'm still creeped out though."
Kurama stared at him with a pair of slightly mocking emeralds. "If you're creeped out, then what do you think it makes me feel?"
Keiko could see Yusuke was about to comment so she spoke again, "Come on, Yusuke. We're here. Let's go on a ride or something."
The delinquent blinked and it took him a moment to realize Keiko was actually telling him the truth. There, in front of him, he could now see the roller coaster going on full speed and the loud cries of children, teenagers, adult, men and women riding on the thing.
"Oh, shit. This is gonna be so cool!" Shizuru beamed, her light brown eyes reflecting nothing but excitement as she stared here and there at the rides. She didn't know whether she should choose the roller coaster or the carousel. Either way, both seemed fun and thrilling.
"Hmph. How humiliating. Acting like a little girl…" She heard the spiky-haired small teen beside her taunted and she shot a glare his way.
"What was that?"
"Are you deaf?"
"Why you-" Shizuru raised her fist up in the air, threatening to send it flying to Hiei's face, but Yukina held it down with her small hands before she could even go near him.
She glanced down at the shorter female. "Yukina, don't be ticked off or anything, but your brother is a real asshole."
Yukina only let a giggle erupt from her lips as a response. "No, I'm not mad. But please don't be angry at him, Shizuru. Why don't you and Hiei try to spend some time together? And don't fight."
Shizuru didn't want to spend anything with Yukina's said older brother, but the petite girl was so kind and sweet, that she couldn't help but relent and complied with her soft demands. "Fine," she grunted.
Her eyes darted to Hiei – who seemed to be sending heated death glares at her direction. His crimson orbs intense as if trying to burn a hole into her brown head. And she had no difficulty returning the look. If only looks could kill…
"I'll go on a few rides with you, Hiei. But that's only 'cause of Yukina."
The short male scoffed. "Ha! Very well, stupid woman. But, I'll warn you beforehand; I'm not going to ride on something dumb or ridiculous." His glare seemed to intensified – if such a thing was even possible. "Prepare to be terrified out of your life."
Shizuru's lips pulled up into a confident smirk. "Took my words before I could even say it, huh?" she responded in a competitive tone. As usual, the both of them were turning everything into a contest again. Brown eyes burned with an intense fire of the desire to win and stared back at the equally blood red eyes of Hiei that held the same flames in them.
The others sweatdropped and watched with weird expressions on their faces as Shizuru and Hiei started walking to the haunted house, determined to scare their so-called opponent out of the other's mind. All this they did without taking their glares off one another.
"Those two never give up, do they?" Botan said to no one in particular and let out an awkward laugh. She didn't know whether she should feel cracked up or exasperated that her two friends were competing with each other… once again. It's almost as if they couldn't do something together without trying to prove they're better than the other person.
"Well, one can't help but admire their will and determination, right?" Kurama replied with a strange chuckle of his own. If anyone looked close enough, they could see his left eyebrow twitching.
"You know, sometimes I think how a relationship with those two would look like," Yusuke added. Instead of the same awkward looks on the others' features, he had a thoughtful one on his own. "I mean, they say rivalry could end up making you like one another…"
"Eww!" Kuwabara yelled out in disgust and everyone diverted their attentions to him. The carrot-top didn't know what was worse, the thought of Hiei going out on a date with his older sister, or the thought of rivals having feelings towards each other at the end. He considers Yusuke his rival, and he certainly does not want that weird saying Yusuke just stated to ever, ever, ever, ever, ever arise.
"I don't know. Hiei's one of the shortest in our gang…and Shizuru's basically the tallest girl amongst our group of friends," Keiko told everyone out of the blue.
"Ha-ha! I can just see it. Imagine how it would be like to see Shizuru bend down just to kiss him. I'd feel sorry for her. She'll end up hurting her back before she can even grow into an ugly, wrinkled old hag," Yusuke added, holding back a laugh that threatened to come out of his throat.
Keiko shot him a stern look and hit him at the shoulder. "Yusuke Urameshi, don't be so mean!"
"Hey, you're the one who said it first!" Yusuke retorted in defense.
The brunette scowled at him. "But that doesn't mean you can just say that about other people!" She then shot another glance at the haunted house. "Hiei will grow taller…eventually," she said, her voice sounding unsure. She's not a fortune teller, now is she?
"Heh. Yeah, can't wait for that," the delinquent replied sardonically.
This earned another frown from Keiko.
"I was thinking, Yusuke… I really want to see Hiei out grow you in the future. It will be priceless to see your face then," Botan teased him.
Yusuke shot a death glare at her. "That will never happen…"
"You'll never know," Botan replied, giving him a shrug of her shoulders.
The gelled-haired badass teenager was about to give her a piece of his mind when Keiko suddenly pulled at his arm. He turned to look at the brunette with an annoyed expression. "What?" he nearly snapped, clearly not happy that someone interrupted him.
Keiko's known him since they were kids so she's used to this by now and unlike most people who would cower in fear as the mighty Yusuke Urameshi glares at them she only gave him a toothy grin. "You wanna ride on the roller coaster? It'll be fun," she offered – one reason being that she didn't want to see Yusuke and Botan bickering (sometimes it never ends with those two) and the other reason being the fact that she didn't want to stand there and do nothing.
Yusuke paused, seemingly forgetting his initial anger. He smiled at her and nodded his head once. "Sure, let's go," he agreed and they both started to walk away. Yusuke didn't forget to shout over his shoulder at his friends to meet up back at the spot.
Botan waved a hand at them. "See you guys later! Have fun!"
The four remaining teenagers watched as Keiko and Yusuke grew farther and farther away from them. When their retreating figures were gone, Kuwabara removed his gaze from their backs and shot a glance at the park's entrance. He silently noted the ice cream truck parked near it.
"Ne, Yukina."
"Hmm?" the said girl mumbled in response.
Kuwabara took this as a chance to be alone with Yukina – even if it would only be for a while. He took his eyes off the ice cream vehicle and glanced at Yukina, seeing her staring at him with a confused look. His lips tugged into a bright smile as he asked, "Do you want ice cream? We'll go together."
Yukina's face brightened up. "Oh, I'd love to, Kazuma!" She looked back at the grinning Botan and Kurama who had one eyebrow arched quizzically at them. "We'll be back soon. Do you guys want anything?" she inquired in a gentle voice, not forgetting to be considerate. As always.
"I'll have strawberry!" Botan replied giddily and raised a hand up in the air cheerfully.
"Chocolate's fine with me," Kurama said with much less cheeriness in his voice than the sky blue haired girl beside him had.
Kuwabara nodded his head in affirmation and looked down at the smiling Yukina. The two started to walk to the amusement park front entrance.
Yusuke's heart was thumping against his chest. Loudly, and in fast, skipping beats. If any sound could drown the sound of his beating heart then he'd be amazed and relieved at the same time. Amazed because it was so loud the thumping filled his ears completely. Relieved because it only made him even more nervous, and anything that could make it disappear or slow down, then he would be grateful.
Too bad for him, sometimes you can't really control your heartbeat… Too bad.
The thing moved slowly, and then stopped abruptly. Before moving again in the same agonizingly slow pace. He didn't know if the roller coaster had a mind of its own, and was trying to scare him away or it was just a bad coincidence. Either way, he didn't like both thoughts. The first one would be creepy and the second one would just mean that fate was playing a trick on him.
It suddenly started to move in a faster face. Faster, faster, and faster it went… Until Yusuke was screaming at the top of his lungs. He gritted his teeth, and shut his eyes tight as the ride started to move in fast speed and at random directions.
He was beginning to really, really regret his decision of agreeing to Keiko's invitation in the first place. His screams were in beyond definitions horror, opposite to Keiko's whimpers of excitement. Seriously, isn't that girl scared out of her life?
"This is sooooo much fun!" the brunette yelped out in glee.
Yusuke turned to look at her to give her an incredulous stare, but when he did, his initial ridiculous face changed.
He watched as his childhood friend and love interest cried out in pure happiness. Her face brightening up in pure joy and that almost too wide open-mouthed smile on her lips were enough to make him forget the scary situation he was experiencing right now.
Hey, maybe this ain't so bad.
Botan took a seat beside Kurama on the bench, her clothed-hips lying flatly on the wooden surface. "Don't you want to ride something?"
The redhead looked at her and she smiled, asking again, "Anything?"
A chuckle escaped his throat, his eyes glinting with a touch of amusement and humor and he shook his head. "No, I think I'll pass. I don't want to risk going on any rides that would possibly make me go ill and vomit all over the place," Kurama joked.
"Ha-ha. I guess that means we'll just stay here and wait for Kuwabara and Yukina then?"
"My thoughts exactly," was his only reply.
Nothing came after that. His response met with silence, except for a few sounds of the children laughing and the loud screams at the park. Neither minded it though, knowing it was a calm, comfortable silence instead of the usual awkward one. They sat there, with Botan staring up the blue sky and Kurama's gaze fixed on the ice cream truck just outside the entrance. Yukina and Kuwabara were taking a long time, but he could see other people around it, so his guess was there were probably too many customers.
"If you want to go try some of the rides, you can go. I don't mind," Kurama said all of a sudden. His gaze shifted from the vehicle to the girl with her knees brought to her chest next to him.
She returned his stare with a bright, toothy grin. "Nah, I think I'll skip the fun for now. Plus, I'd rather stay here with you."
His lips quirked up into a small smile. "Now, that's the first time I've heard you say you actually like my company."
"Well, there's a first to everything, right?" she stated instead of asking and let out a little laugh.
His response was only a low chuckle. She grinned at this, happy that she could make him laugh, before looking back up at the sky. "Ever thought how beautiful the sky actually is? I mean, gazing at stars is wonderful, but sometimes I just like seeing the clouds above me."
He followed her gaze. "It is beautiful." There was a pause, and he darted his eyes down to the smile on her pretty features. "Just like you."
"Do you mean that or are you just trying to get me to blush?" she inquired with as her gentle smile broadened, and looked back at him with an almost usual look she'd always give to her friends when she's trying to kid. Almost.
He noted the slight shade of red spread on her cheeks. Quite pleased when he saw it, if he might add. "Both. And I can see it is working."
Amethyst eyes widened for a bit, and she looked away, avoiding his scrutinizing gaze. Her blush seemed to deepen. "U-um…"
The genius redhead couldn't help the laugh that came out of his mouth. "Relax, Botan. I'm just teasing you."
He was 'rewarded' with a playful punch at his shoulder. Kurama feigned hurt and a pained wince, but anyone could tell there was a smile in his eyes. "Ow, that hurts."
She smiled pleasantly. "Yeah, right. I can tell when you're acting."
He made a pout for a moment, and then humorously said, "Touché." He laughed once again.
Both teenagers were quiet for a while; before Kurama broke it off once again, "Botan, you work as a newspaper girl, right? Yusuke told me a year ago. Is that when you first started on the job?"
"Yep," she replied in her usual happy-go-lucky tone. "Part-time. I guess I needed a job that would be suitable for young people our age so I could earn some money."
"Yes, so I've heard. Your mother works as a flight attendant, eh? Must be tough since you rarely see her…" he trailed off when she waved a hand in front of her face.
"No, not really. I mean, I do miss her sometimes but I know we need the money so I can't do anything about it. In the meantime, I do some part-time work when she's gone," she told him and held up a fist in the air, her eyes burning with the slight touch of determination and hard-work. She frowned all of a sudden, as a realization struck her.
He was about to chuckle when Botan suddenly stood up from the bench, her eyes wide in alarm and her mouth gaping stupidly into space. "Oh shit!" she gasped in horror loudly. He looked at her with blinking eyes and before he could say anything, she took out her mobile phone and dialed a number.
"Pick up, pick up… Come on, pick up, you stupid old man!" she spoke to herself than to him, and as if realizing again that he was still there, she gave him an apologetic smile, to which he responded with a smile – though his was a reassuring one.
She placed the phone near her ear, and as she did so, the call connected and a loud angry shout rang, nearly making her eardrums bleed. "Where the hell are you, idiot?! Are you slacking off? I'm getting complaints that some people haven't got their newspapers yet!"
"Er, sorry…"
"Sorry, my ass! Do you think sorry is enough? You know how much I pay you to do this job?"
"I said I was sorry, okay? Will you stop yelling? I just…forgot."
"You just WHAT?!" Botan wanted nothing but to cover her ears at the moment. "How could you forget? Are you stupid?"
"I said I forgot okay! Now will you just shut up?" she replied irritably. From the corners of her eyes, she could see Kurama sporting a smile with a mixture of amusement and apologetic.
"Why you little-"
"You know how hard I work just to deliver other kids' grandmas' newspapers? Do you know that? I put all my efforts into it! I work my butt off!" she cried out indignantly, suddenly feeling unappreciated.
"Fine! Take the morning off! But you'll have to deliver the afternoon papers!" the person from the other side relented, giving up when he could tell she was going to stop blabbering again.
"Fine, you grumpy old man!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, not paying any care to the weird stares she was receiving from people around her.
"Fine!"
Before she could respond with another "Fine", he hung up, ending the call before she could aggravate him any further. She scowled and removed the phone from her ear, keeping it back into the safe place that is her pocket. "Damn old man…" she muttered under her breath and sat again on the bench.
"Someone from the newspaper delivery business, I presume?" Kurama spoke from beside her.
She glanced at him for only a brief second, before looking away and nodded her head tiredly. "Yeah, he's pissed 'cause I forgot to do my job."
"I can tell by the way you kept yelling into the phone that you fought back quite well," he playfully started. "I am at awe." He began to laugh.
"Oh, shush, you!" she replied timidly and gave him another playful punch at his shoulder.
His howl of laughter subsided a few seconds later, and when he felt he could finally speak without breaking into another fit, he told her calmly, "I thought you work part-time in the afternoon. You know, after school."
"I do. But that's only on school days. When it's in the weekends, I have to deliver the papers in the morning. The old guy doesn't appreciate my hard work at all. Idiot… doesn't he know how difficult it is to wake up at 6 a.m. sharp just to do my job? No, he doesn't!"
"Ha-ha. Calm down, Botan."
The said girl fumed angrily for a few moments, before huffing and crossing her arms. Although her pose didn't seem like she was relaxing, Kurama could tell that she had convinced herself to calm down, at least a little. "It's exhausting at times."
He arched an eyebrow at her. "If you think of it that way, why did you decide to become a part-timer as a papergirl in the first place?" he asked in pure interest.
"Because it can be fun. I mean, that old man may not appreciate me enough, but people who I deliver the newspaper to do, and I think it's a great boost of self-confidence to know that I can do at least one thing right," she explained further.
"Ah, I see. I nearly forgot that you're the goody-two-shoes type."
"Hey!" She peered at him – her eyes half playful and half threatening. "What does that mean, mister? I can be wild sometimes, too, ya know?"
A light smirk spread on his face. "Yes, like last night when you stripped?"
A dark red colour appeared on her face and she let out a stutter, "T-that night doesn't count!"
But Kurama only laughed in return. This only lasted for three seconds and he stopped, staring at her with his eyes glimmering brightly with humor. She took a silent note how gorgeous he actually looked. Oh, Botan, you silly girl! Get a grip of yourself! She soon scolded herself.
"Any other reason why?" Kurama broke her out of her chain of thoughts and her gaze shifted to him again. She quickly forgot her initial argument with herself.
"Oh. Um…" she started and then looked again at the clouds on the sky above her head, being careful enough as not to look at the hot, scorching heat of the sun. "I guess it's a good exercise."
"Ah, right." He nodded his head curtly. "You've always been our school's best and fastest runner. But I thought most paperboys… or girls, in your case, usually use a bike or something?"
She giggled at his confused tone. "We do. But, I like using my feet way more. I still remember my first day like it was just yesterday… That old man asked if I had a bike so I could use it to deliver the papers, and I said no, I'd rather run. I can still imagine his face when I told him that. Priceless, I tell you, priceless!"
An amused chuckle erupted from the boy next to her, as he continued to listen. "Anyway, ever since then, other paperboys – or girls – start running instead of using bikes. I guess you can say I was the one that started the whole thing."
"Ha-ha, I see. So now I know the answer to my mother's question."
She turned to look at him with a questioning stare, and he took that as a cue to go on, "Once, about a year ago when teenagers who work as newspaper deliverers started running, she asked me why they weren't using their bikes and told me to ask you. I knew you didn't like me much at the time, so I never did. To this day, she never got the answer she wanted."
A loud laugh was elicited from her throat. Probably thought it was funny. "Well, when you get back to your house, you can tell her the story I just told you."
He joined her, his own laugh rivaling hers. One same thing went through their heads;
They've known each other for such a long time; years to be exact. Why didn't they try to get to know each other before? If they knew they would get along so well, they would have done that sooner.
Remind Botan to thank Keiko later.
