Ride like the Wind
Chapter 28

December 13

"Happy birthday, Kuwabara!" Okubo patted his friend on the back. "Man, fifteen! Where'd our time go?"

"School robbed us of our lives!" Kirishima whined dramatically, holding up a clutched fist.

"Lay of the sugar, man," Kamata said, an eyebrow raised and sweat dropping.

"Oh hey, Kuwa! Didn't you say you had a girlfriend?" Kirishima turned to his taller friend. This guy must get sugar high off life.

"Huh?" Kuwabara's mind was somewhere else.

"Come on! Your girlfriend! The one with the eyes like glimmering rubies and hair like a frosted mint! The snow princess with the beauty of a white rose in a light snowstorm lighted by silver moonlight and golden stars even though none of that makes sense and I never saw you as a poetic person. Re-mem-ber?!" He started screaming out random words in Japanese.

"…Calm down, man! You mean Yukina? What about my snow angel?"

"It's your birthday! Why don't you spend it with her?"

"I am! We're going on a date! In fact, I was gonna meet her now!" Complete lie.

""That why you're so moody?"

"I'm not moody! Guys don't get moody! You just… Ugh!" He ran away.

"Hey, why's he heading for the cemetery?"

"You don't know?" Kamata asked.

Kirishima shook his head.

"He goes to the cemetery on his birthday every year. He's visiting his mom. No one knows what happened to his dad but…" Okubo went on…

---

Kuwabara stopped in front of the gates of the cemetery. He leaned on them and thought about what happened that morning…

Flashback

"Kazuma, we talked it over. Yer aunt an' I want ya'll to stay in Houston with us," Kuwabara's uncle announced.

"Wha…? Why?" Kuwabara asked, ready to argue.

"We think yer sister needs to take it easy. Maybe go back to school. It's too much fer a seventeen year old girl to work and watch her brother."

"Did ya ask her about it?"

"Okay with it if you was. I believe you didn't get much schooling in Mexico neither. Ya'll can finish school here an' get a nice job an'…"

"I'm an exorcist. That's my job. I don't need school for it."

"Gosh dang it! Kazuma, give up yer exorcist stuff and get a real job. I don't want you tryin' to be like my damn brother!" Kuwabara's aunt growled.

"What's wrong with my pa? What'd he do that made you hate him so much, huh?" Kuwabara growled back.

"It's decided, Kazuma. Yer goin' back to school an' stayin' in Houston whether ya'll like it or not!"

"I'm not staying! I don't wanna! Ya'll can't make me!"

"Yes, I can mista! Now ya'll 're stayin' and that's final!"

"You…! Fine but ya'll won't like it!" Kuwabara stopped out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Kazu, you big idiot… Shizuru thought as she cooked breakfast.

End flashback

I don't wanna go back to school. I'll be the dumbest one in class again… And on top of that, I'll never see Kurama or Yusuke or Yukina again. They'll probably make me get a stupid job, too and make me marry someone else. Why does everything have to start going down hill for me! I was actually enjoying Mexico and now…! And now... Kuwabara thought as he banged a fist on the cemetery gate. I wanna go back to Mexico and see the guys and Yukina again! This sucks!

"Kazuma?" a soft voice called out to him.

Kuwabara looked to the right. "Yukina? What're you…?"

"I wanted to go look around for a while. I was looking for a home in Chicago but go sight seeing at the same time…."

"Why Chicago?"

"My father was from Chicago, or so I'm told… I thought maybe I could find my brother there. I was also thinking about going to live in California too…"

"It's getting pretty dangerous. You know how many times San Francisco burned down? And there's… What's it called? Edricksville or something like that. A day after it was built it got burned down."

"Yeah, but that should be fixed soon… What brings you here Kazuma?"

"I'm… L… Visiting here." Ugh, I just reminded myself of…

"Oh, did something happen?"

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"You seem moody."

"I'm not…! Am I really?"

"If you don't want to talk about it, then you could forget I asked…. Forgive me if you do."

No! I can't forget about it! I'll have a break down if I do! Sis doesn't care. I can't talk it out with my aunt and uncle. The guys here won't get why I don't wanna stay in Houston with them. I can't go to Mexico to see everybody because that's my whole problem. "I'm gonna hafta live here in Houston and I'll have to stop being an exorcist."

"Why? You don't seem happy about it…"

"My aunt planned it all out for me. But… But I wanna stay in Mexico. I wanna be just as great-or even greater-that my pa was as an exorcist. Y'know, to make him proud…"

"What about your mother?"

"…I… I never told anyone this so don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Cross my heart!"

"I… she died. She died giving birth to me. Sometimes I feel bad about it like it was all on purpose… When I found out about it, I started having nightmares and almost got possessed while I was asleep. Then I wanted to become an exorcist. I wanted to at least be as good as my pa or to even surpass him. I try. But I'm a failure. I'm still at one of the lowest ranks of exorcists. I'm not good at school. I'm not much good at anything. Ma, bless her soul, must be rollin' in her grave after finding out what a bad son I've been."

"Don't say that. You're trying and you'll get there. In fact, I bet in a couple of years, you'll be better than your father!"

Kuwabara turned back to the gates. "I'm gonna go see Ma…"

Yukina fell silent. "Can I…. Meet her then?"

---

I wish I could remember you Ma. There's not much to hold onto. I feel like I lost too much. Now I can't see anybody. But if Kurama does go to San Francisco for good…. Ugh. I doubt they'll let me see him… Kuwabara thought as he walked to his mother's grave.

"Here," Kuwabara crouched in front of it. There was a long, awkward silence for a few moments.

"You know, I don't know my mother either," Yukina said to break the silence.

"Huh?"

"When my brother was born everybody wanted him dead except my mother."

"Why?"

"My mother was an Ice Maiden. All ice maidens are girls, you see. They wouldn't allow any men to be there… So they got rid of my brother right when they found out about him. My mother's friend, Rui, told me that when my brother was thrown off the edge of Ice World, my mother killed herself."

"So… Don't you think he would be dead, I mean, he was thrown off a cliff right?"'

"Well, sort of… But despite that, I think my brother might have lived through it."

Kuwabara stared at her.

"…The silent one. His name is Hiro, right?"

"Hiei? What about him?" And he is not silent.

"Oh, well…"

"Gasp! Yer not developing a crush on him, are you?! He's a mean little shrimp, you know! And…" Eye shift. "I think he might be… Kinda… Funny. 'Cause I've seen him look at Kurama pretty funny…"

She giggled a bit. "I find him funny, too."

"No, I don't mean ha-ha funny! I mean the other funny that's kind of funny but not funny at the same funny but amusing for some really strange women funny! That funny!"

Long blank stare. "I don't follow you."

'Okay…" Kuwabara turned to the grave. "Hey, Ma. So this is the fifteenth time…. Wait. I missed you eight times… Well, I was in Mexico since Shizuru's friend brought us to live with her there. I don't know how that works out but… I met three guys there. There was a demon slayer named Yusuke. It was kinda hard to believe it at first but I guess he has his reasons for it. I think he's in New York right now. And then there's Kurama… Well, he's kind of odd but… I found out he was the fox thief Youko Kurama. I was surprised but that explains what happened when I put that stuff on him to protect him from demons. That also explains his demonic aura. It's weird to think he could act kind to an exorcist like me or a demon slayer like Yusuke. Guess he's just kind at heart. And Hiei…. I can tell he had it bad as a kid. I mean, who carries a sword and a gun around at the same time? That or he's just destructive.

"This girl here is another one of my friends. Her name's Yukina. She's really polite and, um, knows healing! Uh… Well, she's trying to find her brother. She told me that they were separated when their ma had to get rid of her brother. She's from some demons called Ice Maidens and since they're all girls they had to get rid of him and stuff. You know… I think he might be out there, too. So ma… If you can… Make sure an angel comes to Yukina so she can get help finding her brother."

There was a long silence before spoke again. "Well, I had a lot of fun in Mexico. That is 'til everybody had to go. Now… Auntie wants me to stay in Houston and go to school and give up bein' an exorcist. So I'll never see them again. Shizuru doesn't care either way… I can't talk Auntie out of it because you know how she is. Makes a mule seem like it could get convinced easily. I don't wanna give up being an exorcist because that's the only thing that I've been able to do good. I dunno why… Maybe it… I dunno…. Well, it's gonna be a long year comin' up. I'll work it out later. Who knows? I'll try my best to get good grades this time. I guess I gonna get started studying cause I missed a lot of school….

"Anyway. I hope you're having a great time up there. I'll see you next year then…"

"Hello, Mrs. Kuwabara. Your son's doing well. I wanted to tell you that I'm sure he'll be one of the greatest exorcists in almost two years. And he'll be one of the top students in his school…. So… Maybe he needs a little help and guidance to make it there," Yukina smiled as she spoke.

Kuwabara stared at her again, surprised at Yukina's enthusiasm.

"You know… I bet she's smiling at you from heaven right now."

"Huh?" Kuwabara held out a hand. "A snowflake…? Wow. It's early for snow….. I remember my uncle told me my ma loved snow and was happy when I was about to be born because it was close to winter time."

"I like snow, too. I kinda miss it since it's so hot in Mexico…." She held out a hand to catch the snowflakes. "Winter's a really nice part of the year. Christmas would be coming so everyone is happy and all the families are coming together…"

"Yeah…."

"Hey, maybe one year all of our friends could come together and we could all celebrate Christmas together. I've never celebrated with my family before…"

"Yeah. That'd be great. I'm with you through the whole thing."

---

Meanwhile…

"Whoa! She is pretty!" Kirishima gasped.

"…Why are we watching?" Okubo asked. "I feel like a stalker."

"The lack of better things to do," Kamata replied with a sigh.

End chapter 28 And to all a good night.

Notes:

1. I don't know Kuwabara's real birthday. I'm serious. Sorry Kuwabara fans.
2. Edricksville- A reference to my home town. In this time, it used to get burned every year. Same with SF. Or course, it's not Edricksville any more. In fact, I doubt that's what it used to be called.

Extra 11: Heroes Reference!!
Kurama was on the phone with Yusuke. "Yusuke! I saw you come from the future! You told me to Save the cheerleader. Save the world. …And you had a sword."
On the other line Yusuke turned to Kuwabara. "I came from the future. I told Kurama to save the cheerleader. Save the world. But more importantly, I had a sword!"

Weird chapter. It was written on paper while I had state testing if that compensates for it. I doubt Kuwabara comes in that much after this. Since this chapter he only appears once so far…. Yeah. Next we are back to Hiei and Kurama! But no BL-ness! (Shonen ai is the incorrect term for this. This is BL because Kurama and Hiei are NOT little kids. But slash is actually a more correct term but I don't care...)

Review please!