~I do not own any part of Yu Yu Hakusho. The characters are created and owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. My characters are entirely fictional and belong to me. Enjoy!~

Chapter 9: Welcome Home….

Frustration and swear words were starting to collect as Keomi made her way off campus. Shuichi was still following her with a smile on his face, waiting for her to give up. But Keomi wasn't going to give up until the very end, her mouth clenched together as she tried not to let the swear words escape.

"Keomi—"

"Yes Shuichi?" Keomi managed to not growl through her teeth at him.

"I will say this only once more, you are in no shape to be walking on that ankle. You are only making it worse. You are accomplishing nothing for the sake of your foolish pride."

Keomi stopped walked and straightened her form. She stood still as she looked straight ahead as she did not turn around to face Shuichi.

"Keomi…."

She did not respond as she closed her eyes and swallowed her pride and succumbed. "Alright, I understand. I loose. I give in. I am in no shape to be walking on this ankle and will never make it home on my own."

Shuichi smiled as Keomi continued on, not even looking at him before he moved forward.

"Shuichi, will you help me get home, even though it might take a while with my ankle?" She asked before she blinked as Shuichi knelt to one knee in front of her with his back facing her. "Um, Shuichi what are you doing?"

"Helping you get home. Now climb on." He looked over his shoulder at her and saw her incredulous face, "Climb on unless you would rather be carried in a princess lift." He turned his head forward to hide the smile that was threatening to emerge on his lips from her reaction.

Keomi swallowed and looked around briefly before limping forward and hesitantly climbing onto Shuichi's back. She tugged at her skirt to make sure her thighs remained somewhat covered but that would be hard since her skirt would be pulled tight as her legs wrapped around Shuichi's hips. "Here give me the book bags, I can hold onto them." Keomi offered as Shuichi handed her their bags and she took them and held them in front of his chest as she held onto him as well.

Shuichi placed his hands on Keomi's bare skin and he felt her flinch from shock before she relaxed against his back. Hooking his hands under her knees Shuichi began to straighten.

After a while of walking, Shuichi was used to carrying the surprisingly light Keomi and Keomi was used to Shuichi's hands on her legs. It was mostly silent except for the occasional directions given by Keomi. All small talk between the two consisted of school or the weather which was starting to get nasty. The wind had already been constant for the entire day but it only seemed to be getting worse. Keomi's hair whipped around her face and back as it blew in all directions. Shuichi's red hair was pinned against Keomi's chest and his back but Shuichi's bangs threatened to whiplash across his eyes anytime.

"By the look of those clouds I say we don't have very long before the weather turns for the worse." Shuichi piped up as his step quickened visibly. "How much further is it to your home?"

Keomi tilted her head back to look at the boiling black clouds. "We won't make it….the rain is coming."

Shuichi listened to Keomi's prediction and as his demon nose smelt the air he could feel the moisture in it. She was right and a minute later they found themselves in a sudden downpour. Shuichi took off at a run, his grasp tightening on Keomi's thighs as his hands moved from her knees. Keomi fumbled with her bag, getting into it to pull out her hidden pull out umbrella. She pulled it out and held it above Shuichi as she gave him direction of where to run and soon enough, after seven minutes of Shuichi running full speed with Keomi on his back they arrived at Keomi's apartment complex.

Keomi directed him up to the third floor as she became nervous, hopping with all her life that her brother wouldn't be home. But as they neared Keomi's door, she could sense no one in her apartment and she pulled the key out of her bag and handed it to Shuichi as she held the umbrella upside down next to his side. Although she had managed to get the umbrella out and get it over them they were still worse for the wear. Keomi was completely drenched as she took most of the rain and shielded Shuichi from getting wet, thought his shoes and pant legs were drenched he was still drier than Keomi.

With one hand still supporting Keomi on his back Shuichi slid the key into the deadbolt and turned it. He repeated this action with the handle as Keomi shook the umbrella out by his side and clung to him, shivering lightly. As soon as the door was open, he invited himself in and walked in. Letting Keomi slid off his back, he turned and shut the door as she quickly set about flipping on a light in the dark apartment and taking off her shoes and placing them in front of the door. She put the book bags to the side and then put the umbrella in a stand to drip dry before limping into the laundry room to grab some clean towels from atop the dryer.

"Make yourself comfortable, Shuichi." Keomi said from inside the tiny laundry room before she came out with a towel around her hair and she handed one to Shuichi. "The rain won't stop for a while and with the wind blowing like that, I'd say we have a typhoon on our hands…."

"Hmm, indeed." Shuichi replied as he pulled off his shoes and set them neatly next to Keomi's before rubbing the towel up and down his pant legs. He handed it back to Keomi who took it with her into the kitchen. Then picking up their bags and following her into the kitchen where she was putting on a kettle to boil water he looked around. He surveyed the cleanliness of the tiny room as Keomi limped around the kitchen pulling out some chips and a box of cookies.

She turned to look at him as his eyes moved around the room. "Um, we can study while we wait out the storm." She set the treats on the table and then limped towards him, but changed direction right before she got to him and slid open a traditional Japanese door. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to change into something….um…not completely soaking wet."

"Do that before you get a cold…." Shuichi said as he took a seat at the kitchen table and began to pull out his text books from his bag.

It was difficult to strip the wet clothes from her cold body but Keomi managed. She rubbed herself dry before dressing in plain pair of khaki capris as all her pants were currently in the wash pile and a regular T-shirt with no logos on it. Loosely running a brush through her damp hair she pulled it into a loose ponytail before leaving the bathroom. It was nerve racking to have Shuichi be in her apartment but hopefully studying would calm her down some.

Appearing in the kitchen after putting her uniform in the laundry to be washed Keomi watched as Shuichi was reading out of one of his text books. "Um Shuichi….is it okay if we study in my room. I have all the other textbooks and many other books there…."

Shuichi turned in his seat to look at her and nodded, "Sure."

"Just pick anywhere to sit, I'll get the tea." Keomi breathed a sigh of relief. How odd it was to be alone in the apartment with a boy, it made things really interesting.

Shuichi gathered up his books and Keomi's bag and headed into the bedroom where he sat at the kotatsu in the room. A minute or two later Keomi came in with a tray carrying the tea pot, cups, spoons, and snacks. She knelt on one foot before seating closer to the table and pouring Shuichi a cup then herself being extra careful not to put pressure on her ankle.

"Pull out your math text book and notebook," Shuichi said as he took the cup from her and stirred it with his spoon. "Thought it would be better if we hit your problem subjects first before getting to the easy stuff." He grinned at her from over the lip of the tea cup.

Keomi didn't really smile back at him, it was more like a contorted smile of dread as she reached into her bag and pulled out her math utensils.

The two set to work on their math problems and it wasn't until Keomi stretched back her neck and caught a glimpse out the window did she realize how much time had passed.

"Oh my gosh! Is it actually that late?" Keomi stuttered as she jumped to her feet and instantly regretted it as she staggered to the side as the needle pains attacked her numb legs. "Ah, blood flow…..ow….."

Shuichi chuckled at her then looked at the clock, the sun had already set by now and night was descending. His family would be wondering where he was by now and Keomi's family should be getting home soon too. "Then I'd better get going."

Keomi nodded her head and gathered up the empty cookie box, crumpled chip bag, and drained tea cups. She carried them to the kitchen where she began to clean up in there as Shuichi cleaned up in the bed room. Keomi looked glass doors leading to the balcony, only darkness was seen and wind and rain covered everything. Biting her lip, Keomi reached over and turned on the radio to listen to the news.

"….All buses and trains have been shut down by the typhoon. It is advisable to residents to stay inside while the typhoon takes its toll….."

Keomi chewed on her lip a little more before leaving the radio alone and glancing back outside again. She couldn't see anything out there, the storm was getting worse.

Shuichi stood ready to go with bag in arms as he watched Keomi fidget at the storm. "Well I'm ready to go but I'm thinking that a call home first would be more appropriate. May I borrow your phone?"

"I don't have one, but the complex manager has one you can use. Let's go give them a visit." Keomi said she flipped off the radio and turned to leave. Who knew what this night had in store for them, but Keomi was sure that it wasn't going to be fun.

"—spend the night with my friend Mother. It will be better not to go out in this weather-." Shuichi explained the situation to his mother over the phone as Keomi tried not to listen in on his conversation. But the more she tried not to pay attention she heard more and felt like an eavesdropper. "Yes Mother, it'll be fine."

Keomi chewed on her bottom lip once again as a dull ache appeared inside her chest. Mother…that was a word that Keomi hardly ever spoke. What was it like to have one? But it sure seemed like Shuichi loved his mother, something that Keomi never had the chance to experience. Another ache was there now and it stuck to Keomi's heart like a wound.

"Keomi, I'm done." Shuichi was suddenly standing in front of Keomi already finished talking with his mother.

"Ah, yes. Well then let's get back up to the apartment. More studying to do…" Keomi covered for spacing off by limping away before Shuichi caught up to her and put his arm around her waist and lifted her somewhat levitating the pain off of her ankle as he put her arm across his shoulders. She stared at him as he started to walk down the hall, her in tow.

"This is better, isn't it? It takes the pressure off your ankle so it will heal faster." Shuichi explained to her. "I hope you don't mind me being too forward.

"Um….not at all…." Keomi managed to bluff as she stared at Shuichi. Tonight was just going to be one major night of awkwardness. But also in that time, time spent together Keomi would learn more about Shuichi. She just had to make sure that he wouldn't find out everything about her.

~Thank you for reading. Feedback on what you think of my stories would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. ~