Hello again. This is Chapter 11. I hope everyone that reads this story notices that in the chapter scroll thing, all the chapters have titles. I have put thought into most of them to be creative. Also, in past chapters I picked quotes from other animes so yeah. I'm not going to say which animes because that spoils the fun.
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me. It belongs respectively to Toshirou Yogashi.
Note: Italics are Hikari's thoughts. And yes, I feel the warnings are necessary.
Warning: The following is rated M for adult themes, crude language, and minor language.
"Well sorry if I don't feel like living with a high-class whore!" Hikari shouted back.
Oyuun stared at her in disbelief and Hikari just glared back at her before running into her room to start packing. Jin stuck his head into Hikari's room and said, "Hey! You can't just decide things like that on your own! I didn't even agree to take you! The boss is gonna fry my ass for bringing you back! He's gonna all be like 'Oh, what's this brat doing here?' and then I'll be like 'She forced me to bring her just because she doesn't wanna live with her sister' and then he'll be like- Oof!"
Hikari threw her bag of clothes at him and said, "If he has a problem with me being there then I'll deal with it! Now carry my stuff pack mule!"
Jin glared at her and said, "And what if I don't feel like carrying your shit?"
Hikari put on that scary yakuza look, grabbed him by the collar, and said, "Carry my effing bags or I'll punch your ugly face in until I hear the bones crumble."
He just glared back at her and then when Hikari got fed up, she socked him in the face and yelled, "I SAID CARRY MY SHIT!"
The yakuza boss rubbed cheek and said, "Fine. Ya coulda said please ya know."
Before Hikari actually left the apartment, she grabbed her black metal baseball bat. She led the way out of the apartment without a word to her sister. Jin slung Hikari's bag over his shoulder and sighed as he followed her. As they walked out of the apartment, Oyuun ran after them.
"You better not come back until you learn to be appreciative you ungrateful delinquent!" Oyuun shouted.
Hikari turned around and shouted back, "Yeah! Well you better learn that you can make a lot of money AND keep your legs closed at the same time!"
Turning back around, Hikari stomped off. Jin muttered to her, "Hoo hoo, that was a nice comeback. Ha-ha your sister is all red and your neighbor came outside."
"Hikari!" Yusuke yelled. "Where the hell are you going! And who the hell is that guy!"
"Don't follow me!"
"At least go to Kur- Shuichi before running off with some guy!" Yusuke shouted.
"Hey! Watch it, kid!" Jin threatened.
"What do you want with Hikari?"
"I'm not the one making her come with me! She's forcing me to bring her!" Jin shouted as he headed back up the stairs to get face to face with Yusuke.
"Shut up! Cut it out both of you! Let's go, Jin!"
Jin gave Yusuke one last glare before following Hikari down the stairs. When they were by the sidewalk, Jin looked over to Hikari's apartment and saw that Oyuun was still standing outside. Pointing a finger at her, he shouted, "I'll be back in four days to collect the money. If you don't have it by then I'm taking you to the boss!"
Jin unlocked the doors of his foreign car and Hikari got in. "Jin, I thought you were the boss," she said as she buckled up.
"I am, but you should know that there's the head of the entire family."
"Yeah, I know, but it's just weird when you say you've got a boss when you are a boss," Hikari explained as Jin started the car and she rolled down her window.
"Hey! Don't stick your head out the window! Do you want your nose to get cut off?" Jin scolded as he pulled her back in by the back of her shirt.
"You make it sound like the nose is the most important part," she pointed out.
"Listen, Hikari. Can't you just stay with someone else? Like your neighbor! He obviously cares. Or that guy that he mentioned," Jin tried persuading her.
"No. You told me that my brothers told you to check up on me every now and then. Since my sister drove you away, this is to make up for lost time."
"That was nine years ago! Why can't you stay with anyone else?"
"My neighbor is an idiot, there's no way I'm going to live with Oyuun, and I'd rather not live with my cousin."
"You even have actual family! What's so bad about living with an actual relative? It beats living with some yakuza scum."
"I'm not used to having parents so I don't wanna stay somewhere where I get treated like I'm someone's child, and besides," she said, "you knew my brothers too."
"Geeze kid," Jin said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Nine years and you're still not over them."
She shrugged and said, "It's not my fault I wasn't raised like other children. I liked my brothers."
Jin parked the car and said, "You, stay in here. I'll be back."
Hikari looked out the window to the building they were parked in front of. "Where are we?"
"It's a gambling house. I'll be back in about an hour so just sit tight," he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
"You can't just leave me in here for an hour! Do you know how bored I'll be! I can't even leave the radio on or else the car battery will die!"
"Take a nap then. Kids like naps right?"
"I'm fourteen! I hardly need them anymore!"
"God you're so stubborn. Okay. Uh let's see," Jin said as he thought. "I can't bring you inside since well I'd rather not."
Despite her age, Hikari pouted and said, "Please? I don't wanna be bored."
Jin gave in to her puppy dog look and said, "Hurry up. Let's go."
Hikari jumped out of the car and followed him. "Is it really good to be that easily persuaded for someone in the yakuza? I mean, you didn't even collect any money from Oyuun, and you caved into bringing me with you. Not to mention that you're bringing a minor into a potentially dangerous place."
"If you know all this, then don't go!" he shouted.
Hikari smiled and said, "No way. This is more fun."
Instead of actually going in the building they were parked in front of, they walked between that building and the one next to it. It was a tiny alleyway and Hikari had to walk sideways. It made her a little claustrophobic so she tried looking up at the sky, which was now a dark blue color only slightly illuminated by the moon.
"Jin, how much further?" Hikari asked as her breathing got a little heavy.
"Just a little more," he replied. "Almost there."
They finally arrived at the back of the building and Hikari was able to sigh in relief.
"Hey, what the hell kind of a gambling house is this? Hey, wait a minute. Isn't this," Hikari said while looking up at the large building, "the museum? What's a gambling house doing disguising itself as a museum?"
They walked to a door leading underground, below the museum. "I know you aren't that dense Hikari. We're not really going to the museum. The gambling house is underground and the only way to get to the gambling house is through a pathway underneath the museum."
Jin pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. "Now Hikari," he said in a mature tone.
"What?" she replied rudely.
He frowned and said, "I don't want you talking in there or we could end up getting in a lotta trouble, and I ain't just talking about the people and the other gang members who are gambling. I'm talking about with the family too. Do you understand what I'm saying? The family is the most important thing to me."
As Hikari looked up at Jin, who was standing in the moonlight much like a superhero or a ninja, she regained her lost respect for him. She nodded and as he opened the door she asked, "So do you have an actual family, Jin?"
"Actual family?" he asked as they walked down some steps after closing the door behind them.
"Yeah, you know," she replied, "significant other and, or, kids."
He laughed and asked, "How old do you think I am!"
"Twenty-nine," she replied honestly and he gaped.
"I ain't that old kid! Geeze!"
"Well, how old are you?" Hikari asked.
"I just turned twenty-four," he replied slightly embarrassed that he was mistaken for being five years old than he actually was.
"You were fifteen when you joined the yakuza?"
He nodded and said, "Ha-ha. Yeah, I didn't have a mom growing up and my old man got fed up so I ran away. I was lucky to get taken in by some yakuza members."
They were at the bottom of the museum cellar when Jin said, "Stick close Hikari and remember, don't talk."
They walked passed some dusty shelves that held some tool boxes and broken frames. Hikari nearly screamed when she almost walked into a cobweb. Hikari and Jin walked down a shady hallway lit by a single flickering ceiling light.
As they approached an open room brought to life by lanterns and regular floor lamps. Jin led her in and the other guys teased him.
"Ha-ha. What is this, bring your daughter to work day?" one of them said and the others laughed along.
Jin faked a laugh and said, "Nice one, but I'd be ten when she was born."
"Hey, it ain't impossible for someone to knock up their baby-sitter!" All of them erupted in laughter and Hikari just bit her tongue to keep from yelling.
Hikari and Jin took a seat on the tatami mat floor and waited for the game to begin. Once the dice roller entered the room, Hikari fell asleep and stayed asleep despite all the yelling that was going on.
Later in the night, she woke up shivering. It left her very disoriented and worried to wake up in a sofa chair in a dark room brightened by nothing besides the moonlight from the window and a desk lamp in the far corner. From the shadow, she saw that someone was sitting at the desk.
"Uh, hey," she said quietly trying to get their attention.
"Oh, Hikari, if you need to use the bathroom, it's out the door, turn right and third door to your left."
Uh. Thanks... I guess, Jin... even though that's not really what I was wondering about.
"Uh, Jin, where are we now?"
He turned around to look at her and said, "This is the family's headquarters. You'll hear 'Oyabun' being used a lot more here. You know who the Oyabun is right?"
"The boss of the family," Hikari said with a yawn.
"Good. He's a pretty good guy. He's pretty scary though for an old man. He'll like you though Hikari. He likes little kids."
Unfortunately Hikari got the wrong impression and said, "I think I'll just stay in this room. I don't think I wanna meet the Oyabun."
"What? Why- I didn't mean it that way! Geeze, fourteen-year-olds have such perverted minds."
"It's because of all those perverted old men that go around raping beautiful, innocent, young girls like me! I'm totally defenseless!" Hikari said.
"Innocent my ass," Jin muttered as he jotted some things down on a piece of paper.
Stretching in her seat, Hikari yawned and then got up. She walked over to Jin and asked, "What are you doing? Is that- poetry!"
Jin's eyebrow twitched and he said, "Yeah. Oyabun likes us to write poems to express ourselves in a nonviolent matter when we can't take it out on our enemies. He likes to put up his favorites in his office."
Ha-ha! What is this?! This is like when mom's put up A papers on the fridge! Ha-ha! How stupid! This guy's an idiot for actually thinking hard about it! But I guess if the family means that much to him.
Hikari snorted and said, "How creative. Do you guys get to finger-paint too?"
He sent her a glare and then tapped his pencil on his paper. "So do you live here? Or do you have an actual apartment?"
"I don't have an actual apartment, but sometimes I spend the night with my girl. I pretty much live here though," he replied as he scribbled a few words in the margin of the page. "Are you hungry?"
"Uh, yeah," she replied rubbing her eyes. "Where's the kitchen?"
Jin stretched in his chair and then got up. "I'll show you. I'm getting hungry too."
He led her down the hallway and occasionally people would come out of their rooms and head for somewhere else. They turned down another hallway and into a well lit room. When Hikari took a look around, she saw men sitting around already in the kitchen.
"Hey," Jin greeted with a small yawn.
"Hey Jin, whose the kid?" one of the other yakuza members asked.
Jin nudged Hikari with his elbow and she glared at him. She gave an awkward bow and said, "My name is Hikari Morino, pleased to meet you."
"Morino? Why does that name sound familiar?" asked one as they stroked their goatee.
Jin laughed and said, "Hikari, go glare at them."
"What the hell do you think I am? A dog? But instead of barking I glare?" Hikari said annoyed. "Stupid idiot."
"Aw don't be like that. Just do it and they'll know who you are," Jin said. Looking at the other yakuza guys he said, "Her glare is so fierce. Ha-ha. I'm sure you'll recognize it in a second."
Not having a good night's sleep, Hikari was able to easily produce a genuine glare.
Why the hell do I have to do this? Isn't it easier to just say who I'm related to? Is it really that hard to say two simple names? Geeze, Jin you freakin' crackpot.
"Ha-ha. Pretty scary for a young girl," the one with the goatee said. "We sure know that glare. It's easy to spot anywhere."
"So who's kid? Dameon or Mattias?" asked one with a lot of piercings.
"I'm not either of their child, you blind idiot! I'm their sister!" she yelled. "God, who knew some yakuza could be that blunt AND stupid."
They all erupted in laughter and the one with the goatee said, "She's got their temper all right! Brings back memories."
Jin grabbed a cup of coffee and Hikari raided their fridge for some microwavable food meanwhile cursing all the idiots in the world, like Yusuke. Instead of actual food she settled for strawberries and searched the cabinet for sugar and two bowls. One bowl was for the strawberries and the other was for the sugar in which to dip the strawberries in.
After washing the strawberries, Hikari took a seat next to the guy with the piercings and began to eat.
"For a scary lookin' kid, you like sweet stuff, huh? Hey, isn't that a little too much sugar to eat with one strawberry?" said the piercing guy, whose name was Kino Kanou.
Hikari gave him a blank stare as she rolled her strawberry around in the sugar and then took a bite out of it.
Kino looked at Jin and asked, "Is it really okay to give a kid this much sugar?"
Jin just shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Hikari, do you have school tomorrow?"
She nodded as she nibbled on her second strawberry before dipping it back in the sugar. "I go to Sarayashiki. I expect you'll be driving me."
Jin sighed and said, "This is why guys wear condoms."
Hikari got pissed and threw the uneaten tops of her strawberries at him. "So Hikari, how are your grades in school?" the one with the goatee, whose name was Takumi Hitotsubashi, asked.
She ate another strawberry and said, "I rank number one in my grade."
Jin choked on his coffee and said, "Yeah, right. I caught you out of school leaving a pachinko parlor with a cigarette in your mouth."
"Just because you're stupid and can't come up with a good poem, doesn't mean that I'm bad in school. I do all my homework ahead of time," she said as she got up to wash her bowls in the sink. "I guess I'll go to sleep now."
Jin stood up and went to put his mug in the sink. "Come on, you're sleeping in a separate room."
Hikari was too tired to reply and she just let Jin lead her to the room. They arrived at the room right next to Jin's. He opened the door and a familiar smell wafted into Hikari's nose. She took off her shoes before entering and a bunch of forgotten memories rushed back to her.
She turned to Jin and asked, "Is it okay that I sleep in here?"
He simply nodded and said, "Yeah. I can't imagine you would want to sleep in another room besides this one. We keep the windows closed so that it'll still have their weird smell."
Hikari smiled and asked, "How come you guys didn't clear out the room?"
"Ha-ha. Everyone was scared that their ghosts would haunt us," Jin said with a hint of fear. "Well, get some sleep and I'll drive you to school in the morning."
She nodded and climbed into the well made bed and wrapped herself in the sheets and buried her face in the pillows. If Hikari could die, she'd want to die from being suffocated from the smell of her older brothers that was preserved in that room. When she fell asleep, nothing disturbed her.
The next morning, Hikari was woken up by the sound of the door opening and a thud on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open and they focused on the figure at the door.
"Come on. Hurry up and get ready or you'll be late for school. I hope you remembered to bring your school uniform," Jin said as he closed the door behind him. Hikari pulled out her school uniform and quickly changed.
She made sure she fixed the bed before exiting the room and shut the door tight. Before heading to Jin's room, Hikari quickly found a bathroom to brush her teeth with her travel toothbrush.
"Alright! Jin! I'm ready. Let's go!" she yelled trying to find her way around.
Jin came up from behind her and she followed him to the car. "Sarayashiki, right?" Jin asked as they got into the car.
"Yeah," Hikari replied still not used to the foreign car seating. Sitting on the right side was a bit awkward for her.
Within minutes, they arrived at her school, but before she got out of the car she asked, "Are you gonna pick me up after school?"
Jin sighed and said, "Yeah, sure. Here's my number. Call me when you get out."
Jin scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to Hikari. She took out the battery cover of her cell phone and stuck it there. Hikari got out of the car and Jin waited until he saw her figure disappear into the building.
As Hikari changed her shoes, someone greeted her, but she wasn't really paying attention.
I really have no idea how whatever happened back at the apartment happened. It was so all of a sudden. Still, it's better this way… Right? Wha- Who's calling me? I hear my name… Oh!
"Oh hey, uh…" Hikari said while forgetting the guy's name again.
"It's Kira Sayaki," he said with a smile. "I was trying to get your attention when you were getting out of the car, but you seemed pretty distracted. Was that a foreign car you got out of?"
She nodded and said, "Yeah. A friend dropped me off at school."
They both walked up the stairs to get to class and Kira said, "Kinda suspicious isn't it? I mean, he could be part of the yakuza or something. Is that really safe?"
Hikari shrugged and said, "My brothers were part of the yakuza."
Kira went wide eyed and said, "That's… interesting. They aren't part of it now?"
Hikari shook her head and said, "They died nine years ago."
"Oh, sorry," he replied. "Did they get shot during work?"
Hikari frowned at him and said, "No. They left for a war in another country and they died there."
"Sorry again. It must be a difficult subject."
Hikari was crying on the inside.
Why do you have to bring that up? Even though you're such a good looking guy, I'm starting to hate you for making me bring up my brothers. Besides, not all yakuza are that bad. Hah! Riiight. Anyway, it's not like just because my brothers were yakuza and I know some guys, doesn't mean I'm part of the yakuza too. I mean, sure I act like one sometimes, but I can be pretty nice sometimes too. Anyway, good looking guys like you shouldn't bring up depressing matters.
They arrived at their classroom and someone ran up to Kira. Figuring she had nothing to do with it, Hikari went to her seat. She was placing her workbooks in her desk when her hand came across something taped to the top of her desk. She pulled it out and saw an envelope.
Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened it right there. Looking at it, she saw it was a very poorly written love note.
Dear Hikari… I've admired you from afar ever since you've transferred into this school. Your tough exterior makes you stand out from the other girls. I never really see you talk to anyone at this school besides that idiot Yusuke Urameshi and the retard Kazuma Kuwabara. There's also that pretty boy, Kira Sayaki, but it doesn't seem as if you're interested in him. I'm not in your class if you're wondering, but there's a lot about you that I like from what I've observed. You get the top scores in our grade, so not only can you kick ass but you're smart too. You're my dream girl and my heart burns for you and I wish I could have the pleasure of talking to you at least once. Sincerely, your secret admirer.
Hikari burst out laughing and pounded her fist against her desk. "What the hell is this! Ha-ha! What a joke! Ah-ha-ha-ha!"
Kira ran over and asked, "Hikari, are you okay?"
Hikari held her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably and held out the love note to him. "What a crappy love letter! What's the use of it if you don't put your name! Ha-ha! This guy's an idiot! 'My heart burns for you' ha-ha! What a pile of shit! Maybe he ate some spicy food while writing this and got an actual heart burn! Ah-hah!"
"I'm a pretty boy?" he questioned uncertainly as he handed her back the letter and took his seat behind her.
Suddenly someone came bursting in the classroom. "Hikari! Is she here?!"
"Uh yeah. Over there, at her seat," said the guy that was talking to Kira.
Hikari could barely hear stomping over her insane laughter, but then she was grabbed by the collar and brought to her feet.
"What the hell! You just left last night! I went to your place this morning and your sis said that you moved out! What the hell is that Hikari!" Yusuke shouted angrily.
Hikari wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and calmed down. "It means just that. I moved out. I don't live with my sister anymore."
He let go of her and asked, "Well then where the hell do you live?"
She shrugged and said, "Somewhere in Shinjuku I'd say. I didn't exactly pay attention to the drive here."
"Who you livin' with? You runnin' away with that guy from last night?"
"Guy from last night?" Kira muttered.
"If I were running away then I would obviously stop going to school, dumb ass. And no, he's my brothers' friend and I forced him to let me stay with him. I stay at HQ in my brothers' room."
Yusuke smirked and said, "Shit. Gettin' me worried like that. I guess it only makes sense you'd go there instead of going to Shuichi."
"Who's Shuichi?" Kira whispered to himself.
"I just hope with me staying in their room, their well preserved smell doesn't fade," Hikari said while looking out the window just in time to see someone get mugged behind a tree.
Hope you liked it. I know it probably seems like it doesn't have much to do with Yu Yu Hakusho, but it'll tie in eventually.
