NOTE: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. If I did, I would be putting this story in the anime/manga, not here, no? I do however, own any characters that are not in the anime/manga, whose names are too numerous for me to bother listing right now.
Previously:
"That's why I called you here. I think I've discovered a way for Asuka to recover her memories," Koenma said.
I nodded, still staring at the clear bottle.
Chapter 21- Back in Action
"I can't do this," I said to Shuichi.
"Why not?" he asked. His question was not reproachful, just curious.
"I can't even control the powers I have right now. How am I supposed to control the powers I'm going to get when I drink this? I don't think I'll be able to."
"All right, then; let's go inform Koenma that you won't be drinking it." Shuichi stood and took the vial from me, placing it back onto the table.
"I'll drink it later. I just don't think it would be wise to let her out just yet," I said, wanting to justify my actions.
"That's fine. If you don't think you're prepared for this, I'm not going to force you to do it. You know what you're ready for better than I do at this point."
We left the white room and found our way back to Koenma's office. "Riku has decided to wait a bit before getting her memories back. There are more important things to do at the moment," Shuichi explained.
Koenma nodded. "That's fine. Come back when you decide it's time."
We left the Reikai through a portal that Koenma made for us. "I suppose it's about time that I go home, huh?" I asked. "My mom's probably going insane."
Shuichi nodded. "I called my mother to talk to her, and she said that your mother was quite worried about you. I'll take you home tonight. You may be better, but you're still too weak to be wandering around your neighborhood alone."
"Alright," I agreed. That way Yusuke wouldn't have to do it, avoiding awkward circumstances between myself and my mother.
When we got to my house, my mother ran out to meet us. "Riku! You're okay!" She cried, throwing her arms around me. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Mom- Mom, I won't be if you don't let go of me," I gasped.
"Shuichi, thank you for staying with her while she was sick," my mother said graciously.
"It's not like he had a choice," I said to her, my face slightly red. My mother can be pretty embarrassing at times.
"Riku, be nice. Shuichi, come inside. It's late, and you don't need to walk home alone. I'll call your mother and tell her about the arrangement." She herded us into the house and went to the phone to call Shiori.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" I asked Shuichi, trying to be a good hostess.
"No, I'm fine Riku. I'm just going to go sit down in the living room."
"I'll come with you."
We sat down on the couch and talked quietly about how to take my training from there until my mother finished her phone call. "Shiori said she'll be here to pick you up in a minute," she informed us.
"Thank you, Mrs. Yamashita," Shuichi said.
"It's no problem, Shuichi."
I yawned widely.
"Maybe you should go to sleep, Riku. You're still weak from your illness," Shuichi suggested.
"No, I'm fine. I'll wait for your mom to get here."
My mother kept the conversation going, asking Shuichi questions about school, his family, etc., etc.
Listening to their voices, I slowly let my eyelids droop. The last thing I remembered was finally allowing my eyes to close and letting my head fall onto Shuichi's shoulder.
By the time I woke up, it was morning. I was in my bedroom, lying on mybed.Glancing at the clock, I groaned. It was time to get up for school. I tiredly swung my legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed a clean uniform before stumbling to the bathroom and locking the door.
Shortly thereafter I came out, refreshed and awake. I quickly stuffed my books into my bag, along with an extra set of clothes to change out of once school was over. "Bye Mom," I called over my shoulder as I grabbed a slice of bread and the sick note she had left on the table for me and walked out the door.
The blue, cloudless sky hung over my head as if an omen. I felt as if nothing could go wrong that day. I was badly mistaken.
By the time I got to school, I was exhausted. I still wasn't fully recovered yet, and the short walk to the high school wore me out quickly. Even so, I was an hour early. I sat in what was becoming my usual desk behind Shuichi, who was already there.
He took one look at me and sighed. "You walked here, didn't you?"
"I had to; I can't drive, and my mom can't give me a ride," I replied, shrugging.
"You're still not quite well yet, Riku. You don't need to be walking such extreme distances as of yet. You should have called someone."
"I'm fine, Shuichi, really."
He looked at me evenly. "You need to be careful, Riku. It's dangerous for you to be walking around your neighborhood alone, especially when you're still drained."
"Fine, I'll find someone to give me a ride," I conceded. Thinking about it, I realized that there was no one to give me a ride. My mom works, my dad's out of town, and I don't have any siblings or neighbors. No need to tell Shuichi that, though. I'll just leave really early tomorrow so that I'll be able to take my time walking to school. That way I won't be as tired.
"Are you feeling up to lessons today?" Shuichi asked, changing the subject.
"Of course I am. I can't let a little illness stop me from studying," I replied.
More people entered the room then. "Shuichi!" one of the girls cried. "You're back!" The people proceeded to surround Shuichi and interrogate him, asking him where he had been, if he was okay, if he needed anything. "None of us could check on you, because no one knows where you live or anything. We were all really worried," one of the guys said.
During all of this, I resigned myself to picking up a book and reading it, making a desperate attempt to ignore the crowd of people. Not one of them said a word to me, either.
When Ms. Shinomori entered the room, I stood and gave her the note my mother had given me for the teachers.
"What did you have that kept you at home for almost three weeks?" she inquired as she read the note and signed it.
My eyes widened. I had known I had been out for awhile, but three weeks? "It was a really bad case of the flu," I answered.
Ms. Shinomori nodded sympathetically and handed me back the note.
The remainder of the day followed basically the same pattern: the other students crowded around Shuichi and ignored me, and the teachers all gave me sympathetic looks at my extended illness and the hefty amount of work I would have to make up.
It stung that none of the other students even noticed my return, and I wondered if they had realized I was missing at all. It doesn't matter, I told myself fiercely. None of these people are my friends, so why should I care if they missed me or not? But as much as I longed for indifference, the rejection of my peers smarted painfully.
After the last bell rang, I eagerly went to my locker and packed the books I would need into my backpack. Then I ran to the restroom and changed into my spare clothes before finding Shuichi at his locker, still surrounded by people. I hung back a bit, away from the noisy crowd. When he glanced in my direction, I signaled to him that I would meet him outside. He nodded slightly in response, so I went outside to wait.
When he finally exited the school, he came without his admiring horde. "Well, that was an interesting day," he commented.
"Indeed," I replied. "Watching your fan club was quite amusing—for the first few seconds."
He opened his mouth to respond, but there was nothing to say. He was popular, I was not. End of story.
"Riku!" someone shouted behind me. Turning around, I saw Chiyo running to catch up with us. "You're back!" she shouted joyfully, tackling me. "I would have come and said 'hi' sooner, but I was running errands for Ms. Zenko all day," she explained. "I heard you were back, and I couldn't wait to talk to you. Are you okay? You're all better, right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine now," I answered. "Where did you hear I was back? No one's said a word to me all day."
"Oh. Well, I heard some of the girls talking about how you were back. They said you looked busy, so they didn't want to bother you," she said nervously.
Suspecting that that wasn't the entire story, I cautiously touched her mind to see what had happened.
"I'm, like, so glad that Shuichi's back!" Kana exclaimed. "It's been, like, so boring without him."
Shizuka nodded. "It's a shame that Riku Yamashita was sitting behind him first period, though. She wasn't even talking to him! If you're going to use up precious space next to Shuichi, at least make good use of it."
I flinched inwardly, but gave no outward sign that I knew what Chiyo had heard. At least they noticed me, I thought ruefully.
"Well, I have to go now. My mom's waiting for me, and she's in a hurry. But I'll talk to you later. Bye Riku." Noticing that Shuichi was there with me, her cheeks darkened a bit. "Bye, Shuichi. I'm glad you're back, too" With that, Chiyo dashed off towards the parking lot.
I smiled to myself. It wasn't much, but it felt really good to know that someone cared.