Author's Note: And here is another installment! Thank you SO much for those who have reviewed so far. It really means the world to me and it inspires me to keep on going, even if I am a bit slow at it. xD. As always, I hope you enjoy and your reviews are greatly appreciated, so don't forget to say a few words before you leave!
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
When The Sun Goes Down
Chapter Ten
Ayumi had dragged the spare futon out of Yusuke's room, moving the kotatsu table forward to make room for it directly in front of the couch. After that, she grabbed Yusuke's pillow and the blanket off his bed, carrying it out into the living room. She gingerly lifted Yusuke's head and set his pillow underneath, and then covered Yusuke with his blanket. She didn't pull it above his waist, however, when she noticed nobody bandaged the wound back up in their haste. Frowning, she retrieved the first aid kit, but before she could start on the wound, there was a knock on the door.
"Uh, were you expecting anyone?" Ayumi asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"It's Keiko," he whispered, eyes trained on the door.
"Oh," she responded quietly, standing up and quickly rushing to the front door and opening it. Keiko stood there with a blank look on her face, only offering a half-smile to Ayumi.
"I ran into Kuwabara and the others, and they told me what happened before they took off. Can I see him?" she asked, and Ayumi quickly stood aside and let her in.
"Of course," she murmured, watching as Keiko went straight for Yusuke, quickly kneeling before him.
"I have pajama shorts and a shirt you can wear to bed, Ayumi," Yusuke said, motioning towards his bedroom with his hand. Ayumi nodded and excused herself, leaving the two alone.
"Look what you've gone and done to yourself," Keiko said quietly, inspecting the wound on his abdomen. Yusuke managed to give her a weak grin and shrugged.
"It's not as bad as it looks." Keiko ignored this and instead opened up the first aid kit Ayumi left, starting the process of cleaning it up. "I swear, I think everyone has cleaned and changed these bandages at least once," Yusuke told her, more than annoyed at the offending wound.
"I know you said that I shouldn't be here right now—"
"And yet here you are."
"—But when Kuwabara told me what happened…I just…" Keiko trailed off, a frown on her face. "We always come back to this, don't we?" she asked, sounding rather small. Yusuke's eyes softened and he reached up to push her hair, which she had started to grow out again, back behind her shoulder. Instead of retracting his hand, he simply let it rest on the side of her neck, his thumb idly rubbing her skin.
"I'll be okay," he whispered to her, hoping she wouldn't worry. This was one of the reasons why he had told her not to come near the apartment about a week ago. The other reason was because it wasn't safe, now doubly so since there was a very real possibility that Yusuke could turn into a walking corpse and try to kill her. "You know I only don't want you here because it's not safe."
She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, finished taping a piece of gauze over the wound and cleaning up the mess, shutting the medical kit. Once she was finished she looked down at the hands in her lap, swallowing the words she wanted to say and instead just sighed and looked back up at Yusuke. "I know, and I'll leave. I just…want you to be safe." Despite the blush that suddenly showed on her face, she looked at Yusuke with a determined look.
"I know…" he said quietly, feeling embarrassed and momentarily forgetting the pain in his stomach. The two sat in silence for a moment before Keiko sighed and leaned forward, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat, which always sounded off to her ever since his last case.
"How's the new case coming along?" she asked.
"It's pissing me off," he answered honestly, earning a small smile from her.
"So as usual, then. And Ayumi?"
Yusuke frowned and pursed his lips at the question. "Well Ayumi's fine, I suppose. She's handling everything a lot better than expected, though in all honesty I don't think it's quite sunk in yet."
Keiko lifted her head, confusion on her face as she asked, "So what's got you so upset then?"
"My friends are about to go fight some ancient monster that's apparently incredibly difficult to defeat while I just sit here and do nothing," Yusuke said darkly, a large lump forming in his throat. "I don't like it."
Keiko's expression changed from confusion to understanding and she offered a comforting smile. "Your friends are strong, Yusuke."
"But what if—"
She stopped him by placing her fingers against his lips, silencing the distressed teen. "You're always there for them, Yusuke. You always protect them. Let them protect you for once." The two sat in silence for a while after that, and eventually Yusuke let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes. "I'll let you get some rest," she started, quietly standing up and taking Yusuke's hand into her own. "Will you let me know that you're okay?"
"Of course…" he told her quietly. She smiled softly and leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to his forehead before hurrying out of the apartment. Yusuke ignored the heat that pooled beneath the surface of his face and looked up at the ceiling, his mind traveling far away from his body and lingering on the fate of his friends. Eventually, Ayumi brought his attention away from his thoughts as she entered the room once more clad in one of his white t-shirts and a pair of clean blue striped boxers that nearly came to her knees. She locked the front door, frowning in annoyance at the still broken window.
"Guess that was kind of pointless…" she muttered to herself. Yusuke watched her with curious and tired eyes, waiting for the past few days to really sink in. As far as he was concerned, she was taking things a little too well. She situated herself on the futon cross-legged and ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back and beginning to French braid it, eyes on Yusuke now. "Is Keiko okay?" she asked curiously.
"As okay as she can be," Yusuke answered quietly. He wasn't feeling too hot at the moment. "Are you okay?"
Ayumi blinked at the sudden question, considering how Yusuke was the one who was actually hurt and all, but she shrugged her shoulders a bit nonetheless. "I suppose I'm as okay as I can be, too." Her fingers finished braiding the end of her hair and she quickly tied it, tossing the finished braid back over her shoulder and letting her hands fall into her lap. "Yusuke…" she started, eyes cast downwards and her voice quiet. "I know everyone thinks that I can somehow heal you, and I…I've been thinking about how I did it earlier. And I've been trying to bring out…something. But nothing seems to be working and I don't know what to do."
Yusuke's eyes furrowed in slight annoyance. "Ayumi, it's not your responsibility to heal me. They shouldn't have told you that. You're brand new to this, and you don't even know what you are or what you're capable of. Hell, I don't even really know what you're capable of."
"But if I really do have the ability to heal you, and it turns out that I just couldn't get to that power, how am I supposed to forgive myself knowing that it was my incompetence that allowed you to die?" she asked hotly, her hands balling into fist in frustration. Yusuke mustered up the meanest scowl he could make at the moment.
"You know, you really should be more worried about what will happen to you if this disease does its job. Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara are going to fight this thing, and his death is what will heal me. So that's not what you should be concerned with. What you should be concerned with is making sure you get the hell out of here if I start changing."
She still looked upset with herself and bitter about the topic, but instead of retorting she simply asked, "Changing?"
Yusuke looked pretty grim. "Do you remember those things that were chasing you?" Ayumi nodded, a lump of fear forming in her throat. "That's what I'm going to change into if they don't kill the Necromancer." Her eyes widened at the news and she looked up at him once more. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took in a shaky breath, suddenly holding her hands over Yusuke's stomach. "What are you doing?" he asked her.
"I can do this. I can do this…" she mumbled, talking to herself more than Yusuke. The Toushin sighed in frustration.
"You have no idea what you're doing," he chided.
Ayumi huffed in annoyance, tears springing to her eyes as she retracted her hands back as if they had been burnt. "So what am I supposed to do Yusuke? Am I just supposed to let you turn into one of those monsters just because I don't know what I'm doing?" She was clearly upset, and Yusuke had a feeling the careful calm she had been building up was about to get knocked down. "What did I do to deserve this? What did I do?" she whispered to herself, her eyes closing as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"It's okay—"
The dam finally broke. "No! Don't say that! Don't tell me it's okay!" Ayumi started to shake as the tears finally fell from her eyes. "Everyday I keep finding out weird things about the world that I live in and I keep finding out that nothing is what I thought it was. I've been lying to my grandmother and to my friend at school, I now have to keep a constant eye over my shoulder, I am terrified all the time now," she started, beginning to sob uncontrollably now. Yusuke looked at her with a patient expression. "You and your friends have done so much for me and you keep putting yourself in danger because of me and right now all I want to do is help you because you don't deserve this, Yusuke. You don't deserve to be turned into a zombie because of me. And I used these powers that I have, I used them! I healed myself and I healed Hiei. I'm fine and he's fine but the only one who isn't fine and the one who needs my powers the most is you and I can't help you!"
At this Ayumi stopped talking all together and placed her face into her hands, crying hard into them and wishing for this nightmare to be over. She felt Yusuke's hand settle on her shoulder in comfort and she instinctively moved closer and placed her forehead against his side. The two sat in silence for a while as Ayumi continued to cry into her hands. Eventually Yusuke's hand wound up on top of her head, petting her fly-aways back into place. The motion was soothing and Ayumi's cries turned into soft hiccups every now and then.
"I know I told you about the first time I died, but I didn't really tell you what it was like," he finally said with a quiet voice. Her head slowly lifted and she peeked at him, her eyes now red and puffy from crying and her face a little swollen too. "One second I was pushing that kid out of the way, and the next second I felt pain, and then there was nothing. I got up as if nothing had ever happened, only to realize that I was watching the paramedics pull a sheet over me and place me in the back of the ambulance after they declared me dead."
Ayumi frowned a little, sniffling. "That must have been a bizarre experience."
"I honestly didn't have much time to concentrate on it," Yusuke admitted. "Botan was there before long and explaining to me that I was a ghost. Next thing I know, I get thrown into this strange world with strange rules and strange creatures. Creatures I never knew existed." He was attempting to explain that he felt the same thing she's feeling now, and it actually made her feel a little better. "I found out things about myself that I never would have found out otherwise. It's overwhelming and it's scary sometimes."
"Do you regret it?" she whispered, but Yusuke shook his head.
"I wouldn't change a thing. If I had to do it all over again, I would. In a heartbeat. As overwhelming and scary as it can be, it's also the most gratifying thing. I belong to this existence. To be who and what I am, to have the job that I do, to have the people in my life that I have, and to fight against some of the toughest people in the universe. It's right and it's awesome." He couldn't hide the satisfaction in his voice and it made Ayumi smile a little.
"Wow. I've never heard you talk like that. You act like you hate what you do."
Yusuke offered a wry smile. "Koenma irks the hell out of me sometimes. He's over seven hundred years old and doesn't know how to have emotional attachments. For the longest time everyone and everything were just pawns to him. But I do love my job, even if it is overwhelming. Just don't tell anyone I told you that, yeah?" he asked playfully. Ayumi smiled at him and nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
"That sounds almost sad…" she said then, causing Yusuke to furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Not being able to form emotional attachments. That sounds like a sad existence."
Yusuke's face changed to an expression of understanding. "Yes, it does. Alright, let's step away from the serious talk for a while," he started. She laughed and agreed, sitting back a little now. He removed his hand from her head and placed it over his chest, concentrating on something. After a moment it passed and he relaxed, and she guessed he was concentrating on fighting a wave of pain. "I'm going to teach you about energy now. So pay attention, because I'm only going to explain this once."
"Where are we going?" Kuwabara asked, the trio of fighters making their way deeper into Makai.
Kurama answered him. "The Necromancer is somewhere in the West, and my guess is it won't be hard to find him."
"Why do you guess that?" he asked, wondering how much Kurama knew of the situation. They hadn't been in Makai for very long but Kuwabara was willing to bet that Hiei and Kurama had done more than enough 'research' regarding this entire mission. He didn't have to wait long for a reply.
"The stench, the timing, and the convenience of it all."
"Tch," Hiei snorted, offering a cold shoulder to Kurama while moving a little faster so he was ahead of the other two. Kuwabara frowned at the thought. He didn't know what was going on with Hiei other than the fact that he was way more temperamental than usual. If Kurama was bothered by the hiyoukai's actions, he didn't show it.
"The convenience of it all?" Kuwabara asked, wanting to know what Kurama was talking about.
Hiei snapped, "He thinks we're walking into a trap."
"We are walking into a trap."
"That insinuates that we have no idea a trap has been laid. As it stands, it's quite obvious what their plan is, so explain how this trap is going to shock and awe us?" Hiei asked over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving the trail in front of him.
"Just because we know it's a trap doesn't make it any less of one," Kurama scolded. "We have no idea what we're about to walk into. That's a fact."
"And why the hell does that matter? Does not knowing what's ahead change what's behind us? Yusuke is going to turn into a corpse if the Necromancer doesn't die. That, too, is a fact. So we have two choices; we kill the Necromancer or we kill Yusuke because once he turns into one of those things there will be no stopping him. Which choice would you prefer?"
Kuwabara watched the exchange with a frown on his face. Everyone's temper was so on the fritz lately and he didn't understand why. He could even see Kurama starting to become frustrated at Hiei, and that was an incredibly rare sight. "There is a third option—" Kurama started, only to be cut off by the hiyoukai.
"I sincerely hope you are not about to suggest that we leave Yusuke's life in the hands of a human girl who—"
"There you go again! You assume that just because she's human that she is—"
"She is completely useless. You can place some misinformed faith in her if that's your wish, but don't expect me to do the same. As far as I'm concerned, killing the Necromancer is the only option. No one is forcing you to stay here."
Kurama looked like he was going to reply and both demons looked about ready to start hurting one another. Kuwabara could feel himself starting to get frustrated, and that in it self was frustrating. Letting out a sudden snarl he turned to Kurama and asked, "Aren't you around 300 years old?" Kurama, taken back by his sudden question, simply nodded. "And didn't you just turn 100 not too long ago?" he asked Hiei. The hiyoukai didn't answer, which was all the confirmation Kuwabara needed. "So why is it that I'm the only one not acting like an infant?" Neither demon answered him. "Look, Kurama, if you really feel that Ayumi can help Yusuke, that's great. Maybe she can, maybe she can't. I don't really know. But if you don't want to fight this guy, then you don't have to, the choice is yours."
"Kuwabara—" Kurama started, but Kuwabara wasn't finished with his rant yet and turned to Hiei now, completely ignoring Kurama.
"And you," he snarled, making Hiei stop in his tracks. Kuwabara all but stomped up to him and placed his hands on his hips, glaring angrily down at the demon. "We already have this Necromancer, Daisuke, and Demetri to fight. Everyone is stressed out and frustrated and yet you can't seem to help but pick a fight with anyone who comes within a fifty foot radius of you, including us. I don't know why you hate the world and everyone in it, I don't know why you hate yourself so damn much, and you know what? I don't care. If you want to needlessly make yourself miserable then do it without taking everybody down with you.
Right now, my best friend is on the verge of life and death. And guess what? That trumps your emotional state," he continued, jabbing a harsh finger in Hiei's direction and then turning slightly to do the same to Kurama. "And that trumps your intellectual state. Either way this Necromancer has to die, I don't care that you think this is a bad idea, Kurama. And Hiei, I don't care that you don't care about any of us. I really don't. But the longer you two continue doing this crap the less time Yusuke has, and that is inexcusable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Necromancer to beat on."
With a final snort he abruptly turned on his heel and stomped off ahead of the trail, leaving two stunned demons in his wake. Kurama recovered first and sighed, shifting on his feet a little. "I forgot how perceptive he was…" he said quietly, mostly to himself. Finally, Kurama quickly made the decision and set out to follow Kuwabara determinedly. Meanwhile, Hiei swallowed the lump in throat as he mulled over Kuwabara's words. On the one hand, he was so angry that he was near shaking and was tempted to leave. On the other, deep in the recesses of Hiei's consciousness, if he left now he knew he'd feel an irrational surge of shame.
"Dammit," he muttered under his breath, suddenly breaking out into a sprint and taking to the trees. He would stay with them and fight along side them, but he was also tired of them. They could at the very least walk by themselves while he ran ahead in the trees.