Tren: Well, considering that I can't post these buggers, It's getting on my nerves.
Aillas: EVERYTHING gets on your nerves.
Tren: (sighs) I guess, I've just never been one to enjoy waiting.
Aillas: (rolls eyes) Like that's a surprise.
Tren: And soon I'll be leaving for a weekend to North Dakota.
Aillas: Why on God's green earth are you planning on doing that?!?
Tren: My cousin is getting married.
Aillas: Well, more power to you.
Tren: WHAT?! You're not gonna come with me?
Aillas: That isn't even a question. Do you think I'll enjoy cowboy land?
Tren: (all put out) Awwww… well, let's work on the story alright.
Aillas: Yeah… Just how BAD have you deviated off Sab's plan for this??
Tren: I've stayed pretty much on schedule…
Aillas: Yeah yeah,
Tren: Alright, back to the storyline….
A nurse was currently digging through the pockets of a young man, trying to figure out just who the John Doe in their clean room was. Currently he was recovering from burn wounds, if he didn't die again. There wasn't much of his clothing left, as it had been either charred or cut to pieces to get it away from his skin. Then, there it was. The man was carrying an ID card, as it seemed, for a school. Battered, the laminated corners peeling from age and wear, she took a look at the picture first.
The person was younger than they would have suspected, sixteen, and giving her a cocky, crooked grin in his school photo, mismatched eyes seemingly dared her to do anything. It gave insight into the patient now labeled as Suekeichi K. Minamino. He had once had auburn hair, which made her sigh, considering the lock locks were now, for the most part, gone with the fire. Typed near his student number was his home phone number. Jackpot. Picking up the thin steel phone, she dialed the number waited until the message machine turned on.
"Hello there, you've reached the Minamino household. We're not home right now, so please leave your message after the beep," a pleasant male voice informed her. Leaving her message she sighed and hung up the phone, going back to check on the patient…
Samui knew he should have felt grateful that his siblings were saved, but no… not by him. Anyone but Keichi. He knew it was a dumb, selfish reply, but he couldn't believe that selfish, murderous Keichi would risk his life for anybody if it wouldn't help him gain anything.
"Keichi…??" he asked, feeling sicker by the second though forcing himself not to stop the healing.
"That is…. What they… insist… on calling me…" he replied his words broken as he breathed or winced, his body a mass of pains.
"Why, Keichi… why did you do it?" Samui asked quietly, looking his once friend over, feeling pangs of guilt over the sheer mass of his body covered and knowing that, though he trying to talk as though nothing had happened, he was in pain.
"Shouldn't you be glad? I mean, the selfish bastard… almost got off'ed…" There was a soft laugh to his voice that made Samui scowl for a moment, wondering why death could be so funny to someone like Keichi.
"Don't get me wrong, I am truly grateful, without you, I do believe that my siblings would be dead now," he nearly choked at that point, at the idea of his family harmed in anyway.
"But you're… asking yourself… why him… right??" Keichi didn't mean to sound disconnected, but he knew a few things about his body and how it recovered. It needed to stay still so his own god given genetics could take over and help the process along. Knowing the burns on his face were still there, he didn't want to risk moving his jaw in actually speech.
"…yes…" Samui felt suddenly ashamed of himself, that he was such an open book that the young man who saved his family could read his disappointment so easily.
"I did it… because… you look happy… with them…" he replied, taking a shuddering breath before softly laughing, "I… know you won't believe me… but I only want you to be happy… I've ruined enough of people's lives… I'm sick of being the bad guy."
"…" Samui decided wisely to keep silent, not knowing how much Keichi hated it, as he stared down at his fingers and at his work…
Exhausted, Kurama nearly fell through the doorway of his house. What a long week it had been, cramped in his office, finishing all the grading. Looking around the house, he noted that Keichi's jacket was missing from his spot near the door, same with his shoes. Dismissing it as the fact that he must have left to do something, probably visit with his latest girlfriend, he sighed and dropped his heavy bag, barely remembering to close the door as he fell back against the couch in the living room when there it was. A small, flashing light, reminding him in that frustrating way all answering machines had. Groaning, he looked at it, his head barely leaving the cushions of the couch as he made sure it just wasn't his imagination. To be honest, he really didn't want to get up, as he was not just physically exhausted, but mentally as well.
Finally gathering the courage, not to mention the energy, to get up Kurama trudged to the machine, resting on the table near the entryway. Pressing the play button he ran his hands through his rose red locks, staring at his exhausted reflection in the mirror hanging above the table.
"Hello, this is the medical staff at the Prosperity Hospital, trying to reach one, Suiichi Minamino." Kurama's head immediately snapped to the machine, knowing that an intro like that never led to good news. "We need you to stop by the hospital, we believe we have your son." Even though he was pretty sure that Keichi wouldn't die that easily, he felt his blood run cold. What if the next few words happened to include Morgue? "He's in our Critical Care Unit at the Burn Ward." Maybe it wasn't good news to hear your son was in the CCU of any hospital, it certainly was better news than being told you need to claim a body.
Suddenly, his body was as tiered as it was earlier, mainly because of the news. He might not have been around for Keichi's childhood, but he was sure as Hell going to be there for the rest of his life. Of course, he wasn't worried about his son, he knew how resilient the little brat could be. Pulling his blazer on, he left, riding his bike off at breakneck speed towards the hospital…
Keichi opened his eyes to find that, curiously enough, he was back in his mother's room in the Godly realm, floating somewhere near the ceiling, which was odd enough. Below him, a scene was unfolding, a flurry of motion located solely between two people. Sprawled out on a large, feathery bed was a woman, too beautiful to be real. Sweat glistened on her flawless skin, her body exhausted from giving labor. Standing at the end of the bed was a young man with messy, dirty blonde hair, dressed only in a pair of dirty jeans and an unbuttoned white oxford shirt, holding in his well muscled arms a bundle of blankets, shaking his head at the small dark figure, who was curiously blurry, his features vague, which Keichi found rather odd considering the sharp detail that filled the rest of the room.
"It's no use ---------"the blond man muttered, handing the bundle of blankets, and Keichi frowned a bit, trying to figure out why the name of the dark blur had seemingly run into a dull hum of noise.
"Let me be the judge of that… Leave this room immediately," the man replied back solemnly, clutching the child to him and it struck Keichi. The infant was him, he could tell from the blue bands on its wrists.
"---------, the kid's dead, there's not much you can do, besides give him some rites or sumthin'," the blonde replied in an exhausted voice, but nonetheless he left the room, leaving the darkened blur alone with the child, and Keichi still floated there, rather helpless.
"I don't know what that… mother…" the blur said that word rather distastefully before continuing, "… what she will call you… but I think your story should not end here."
Curious, Keichi watched as the blur proceeded to speak in some dark, menacing language that he truly didn't understand before, without warning, the room darkened and suddenly, there was a man. Dressed entirely in black robes, the hems writhing and dispersing into shadows, other than that though, he looked positively angelic. His skin was a perfect, unmarred milky white, so pale he seemed to glow in the minimal light of the room. Pulled away from his face in a devil-may-care ponytail was perfect, pale golden hair that seemed to glow like a halo around his stunning face. Cool blue eyes stared at the dark blur with a look of amusement and surprise as the newcomer crossed his arms and laughed.
"Well, well, -------------, imagine that… you calling upon little old me?" the man laughed in a voice like the richest dark chocolate. Placing one thin, pale hand to his chest, an almost pleased smile spread across his face and Keichi noted an odd black manacle clasped around the man's wrist.
"Shut up, I need your help," the blur retorted sharply and he must have done something, like glace down at the child with his eyes, because that's where the man looked next.
"Oh… A child?? What could you want with something like that, especially a dead one," he stared at the bundle, waiting patiently for the explanation.
"This child is Kurama's, and you of all people should know of him."
"Ah yes… him…" the man gave an almost gleeful smirk, nodding his head rather sagely. "Of course I know about him… and this child… do you mind?" he held his hands out, taking the bundle out of the blur's arms.
"I need you to give him back his life," the other figure said quietly and Keichi began to wonder just who that person might be. He seemed so familiar….
"I can't just give something for nothing… and normally I make those deals with the living… they can sign contracts you know??" the man looked down at the stillborn with rather apathetic eyes, when suddenly, they misted over, as though he was not really looking at the child but somewhere far off. Knowing not to disturb the man when he was like that, the blur stayed silent until it passed and the blonde shook his head, maneuvering ever so slightly so he could hold the child in one hand and rub his temples with the other.
"Quite sorry for that, I never really do know when that'll happen… though it brings up an interesting question… do you want this child to really live?? Do you know what he…" the man lingered ominously on one word, "Might… become??"
"He deserves a life."
"Well, I can't very well create life where there is none!" the blonde exclaimed, looking suddenly rather irritable, though Keichi couldn't entirely understand why.
"Then… take some of mine. Give him 100 years of mine, guaranteed," the blur offered rather quickly, a bit too quickly if you asked their unknown observer.
"You sure about this… you do know how much time you have left, right?" the man asked, reaching into one of his billowing sleeves and pulling out an ornate silver pocket watch, swinging it slowly like a pendulum in front of the other man.
"Yes," came the sharp, unamused reply, "Now put that thing away! I'll make the deal in his place."
Deciding not to warrant the blur with a response, the man held out his free hand, perfectly flat and flames of pure black swirled out of his palm, materializing into a thick parchment scroll. It unrolled itself, revealing elegant script written in a dark crimson and last of but not least, a name. Try as he might, Keichi could read it as the hazy man signed once more with a pen that seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Goooooood… always a pleasure doing business with you. He has one hundred years, guaranteed. Once he grows past those, though, he's on his own, without my help during every second of his life… Now then, where did that pesky soul run off to?"
He looked around until his eyes fell straight upon Keichi, his eyes which seemed to hide a still smoldering flame on the verge of lighting at the slightest chance.
"There you are…" The next thing Keichi knew, he was in pitch black and all he could hear were voices.
"Hm… there we go,--------------, all fixed. He should start crying any moment now, that is, once he's able to move. It's rather tiring and all, coming back to life," the blonde's voice muttered and Keichi could feel himself being moved.
"Good…
"Also… Because of the strain I've put on his soul, expect him to mature quickly, in the mind at least."
"How quickly?"
"Expect him to speak, walk and do many other things… quickly. When his body's seven, he'll be (mentally, might I add) seventeen or around that age. I never was good a math," that rich voice sighed before Keichi could feel himself beginning to wake, his body giving off a dull, aching agony that slowly escalated into a whole new level of pain that his body had yet to have discovered…
"Keichi?" Samui asked timidly, sinking down into the only chair in the room, all his demonic energy spent on healing.
"That's normally what they call me…" Keichi's reply came, his voice quivering and groggy.
"You shouldn't talk if you're in pain," Samui replied sharply, like a teacher to a rather obstinate student, shaking his head as even he knew the futility of the correction.
"I don't… like the silence…. The pain is nothing… compared to it," Keichi replied, his lips barely moving, his eyes both closed, though one was currently covered in bandages.
"I didn't know you didn't like silence," Samui mused, watching Midori pace outside before she wandered off, probably to get some food from a vending machine.
"Never did… I grew up… in silence… I don't want to return," the teen muttered and Samui looked over at him, suddenly surprised, realizing that he truly didn't know that much about him.
"…. Keichi….??" He asked timidly, looking away from the bandaged figure before him.
"Yeah?"
"I… I'm sorry that I…" he trailed off again, but before he could start the conversation, Keichi butted in.
"What is there to be sorry for??... Something happened to you… I don't know what, but I have a feeling that… I was the… one who did it… I'm… just trying to even the scales… I'm not… a good guy… just one with a guilty conscience and years… of sin… to… re….pay…" his words became labored as the pain from the burns washed over him once more, making him shudder involuntarily.
"I… I made assumptions about your character. No matter what you might say, it won't sway me from my ideas," Samui responded, waiting for Keichi's reply, only to hear his arduous breathing until finally, it calmed.
"Alright…believe whatever… you want, halfbreed," Keichi muttered, and if Samui didn't know him any better he sounded almost bashful.
"That's right, they're my own beliefs. And don't call me half breed."
"What's wrong with callin'… you… that??"
"You're joking right??" Samui didn't know if he believed Keichi's sudden innocence, but when he was greeted with silence, it hit him. Keichi really didn't know what the term truly meant. "It's derogatory, that's why!!"
"Oh… That would explain… why I was called… that a lot…" Keichi laughed a bit before once more falling asleep, though this time it was dreamless.
Only fifteen minutes later, Kurama came bursting through the doors of the hospital, breathless, his bike only recently locked onto a nearby pole. Looking around, he asked the nurse, as politely as possible, where he might find the CCU burn unit and a child recently named Suekeichi K. Minamino. After she sent that attractive, if startling, man to the room, Kurama once more raced off down the halls, skidding to a halt when he saw a girl who looking startlingly like Yusuke. If he was female…
"Is this the room for Suekeichi?" he asked breathlessly as the girl spun around to face him, looking rather surprised.
"Uh… yeah…." For once, Midori didn't know entirely what to say. She knew who the man was from stories handed down by her father, but here he was, in real life. He looked a little older than she had imagined, though barely over 21, his red hair falling just to his shoulder in a rather sharp cut, his green eyes had were awake and sparkling, though they still held the vaguely dull sheen of someone who had been up far too long for far too many days.
"Whew… I was worried I might get lost… I always have trouble getting around in hospitals!!" Kurama laughed it off, rubbing the back of his head rather sheepishly before once more becoming serious and looking over at the large window.
"How… is he?" he asked quietly, crossing his arms over his chest as Midori responded quickly without thinking, ever her father's daughter.
"King Tut is fine," her voice was cheery, and probably would have remained that way, except she realized just what she had called his son. "Oops… I mean… Keichi's fine…"
Laughing just a bit at her excitability, he shook his head and looked into the room, which Samui was sitting in, now exhausted while Keichi's heart beat out a steady rhythm. He had to admit, his child did look like a mummy before he suddenly realized something, his head snapping over to look a Midori.
"Why is your friend in there?"
"Keichi saved his siblings. That's why he's all bandaged like that," Midori explained, waving her hand at the scene before them.
"How… unusual," Kurama murmured before looking over at the girl once more. "Has anybody thought to notify Kazuma?"
"Huh?? Oh… crap!! AUGH!!" she cried out for a second, tugging at her ponytail and pulling a face, "I can't believe I forgot to do THAT!!!!"
Chuckling rather quietly, not wanting to insult her but finding her wonderfully amusing, Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know how they can be reached; I'll take care of it. Your friend… Samui, was it?" she nodded, "He looked tired; why not get him out of there and onto that bench?"
Leaving her with that he walked to the designated cell phone area of the hospital and pulled his out, sighing. Like Keichi's it was sleek, though this one looked rather like an emerald and he could see straight through it. Tapping on the small divots that served as keys he watched the screen hummed to life and it notified him that he was not calling Kazuma, but a woman named Narue, who answered sounding rather breathless.
"He…llo??"
"Ah, Narue, hello this is Suiichi Minamino, are you near Israel??"
"Yes… Why do you… oh gawd, you're gonna ask for that moron Kuwabara, aren't you?!?" she snapped, making Kurama remove the phone ever so slightly from his ear and give a pained expression.
"As it turns out, the answer to that is yes. Would you mind handing him over the phone??"
"This is why I shoulda never bought a satellite phone," she muttered as Kurama heard the small scraping noises of a phone being handed over and such.
"Hello?"
"Kazuma!! This is-"
"Kurama, yeah, I know. Haven't heard from you in a while… how's the kid??" Kazuma's voice sounded genuinely worried, which made Suiichi smile just a bit. Even though his son had made an attempt on his friend's life, he was still worried. It was kinda cute. Dumb, but cute.
"He's fine, he got off with the same deal Hiei and I got."
"Well, that's good news. So… why would you be calling me here of all places, with Narue's cell??"
"Don't panic-" Kurama got cut off as Kuwabara once more cut in, as usual.
"That's never a good sign, just spit it out."
"Something happened involving a fire and your house. And" Kurama kept foraging ahead as he could hear Kazuma was going to try and butt in. "before you freak out, everything's fine, my son got there in time to saved your children."
"…. I'll be in Japan as soon as possible."
That was the last thing Kurama heard before Kazuma hung up the phone, leaving him with that dull drone of a tone and he sighed. Didn't anybody say good bye any more??
-Tren: Alright… I'm trying my hardest to crank all of these chapters out.
Aillas: Even though they can't be posted for a bit.
Tren: But it really doesn't matter.
Aillas: At least we'll get them posted eventually.
Tren: In the meantime, I'll post these as often as I can.
Aillas: ALSO:
Tren: These chapters have been written in advance. Which means, I have already come back from North Dakota.
Aillas: There was a blizzard while she was there.
Tren: And my hand got infected from a cut in marching band.
Aillas: It has a scar now.
Tren: MY BEAUTIFUL HANDS HAVE BEEN RUINED!!! (holds out hand in horror)
Aillas: What… a freak….Did she really imagine me???
Tren: NOOOOOOOOOO (screams while holding hand with ugly scar on it)
Aillas: Get a room.
Tren: But my hands are my livelihood!! I'm an artist, a musician and a writer. THESE HANDS ARE MY LIFE!!!
Aillas: So?? (cocks eyebrow) They're not injured, just scarred and hideous.
Tren: (breaks out into fresh sobs)
Aillas: Alright, well, let's get your mind offa that, and answer some reviewers.
Tren: (still crying)
Aillas: On second thought, I'LL answer them.
-Paksennarion: Yes, Tren has given out yet another imaginary plushie… and she would thank you for noticing that she built up suspense by not saying who saved the twins, but then again, she's sobbing on the floor. And Tren found out you quoted her from checking out your profile, which she does to all of her reviewers and someday she'll read your fanfics. When she isn't busy with music or art… As for the fast updating, was this speedy enough?
-Sugar High Water Uma: Brilliant… you are too kind!! Tren is quite grateful to have the talent, though she deems it wasted on herself… (mutters off to self) it's rather hard trying to respond to these when she's SOBBING!!! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER WOMAN!!
Tren: (still crying)
Aillas: Alright…. (bored with the antics now) moving onto the next important reviwer…
Vitanie Tora: Yes, Samui owes A LOT to Keichi now, which is awkward but the possibly the beginning of a friendship… have any readers noticed how Keichi's maturing?? Good luck with the work, and thank you for agreeing with me, Aillas, her muse… considering Tren usually ends with a cliff hanger… it's always…. Awkward…
-Sabs: Well…. (gets cut off my Tren)
Tren: I can take it from here!! Sabs!! Glad you're catchin' up with the storyline…. And yes, Lucas has been brought. Where would this story be without a devil?? Or, as a matter of fact, THE Devil…?? And yes, didja notice the flashback?
-Rose Of Death: YES!!! THE END WAS FUNNY!!! MY LIFE HAS BEEN FULLFILLED!! I had to find a way to keep the story from getting to serious, what with death, burns and the hospital… so Keichi had to take on the role of comic relief… he's done quite well for himself, hasn't he?
-ShadeSpirit: Hey, Keichi's a teenage male and the one time he could fulfill his fantasy of hot nurses waiting on him… he gets the creepy ones with unibrows and moles… jus this luck. As for Yet… all people die… it'll just take Keichi a while (100 years to be exact…) And even then he could still live for many a year beyond that. Remember the deal with the devil from above?
-HieiFan666: (laughs) I think you have the best response, and Keichi agrees whole heartedly. Samui needs to find the hottest nurses in the smallest skirts and bring them. Immediately. But no…. Samui's too… good for that, I guess you could say. As for suing the hospital, you know Keichi's thought of it, but he's already rich. But rest assured, he'll find a way to get something out of it. (if everything else fails, a sponge bath by the cutest nurse in Japan if all else fails) And Cats are just…. Cats… Mine likes to lick my toes and lay on my laptop and sniff all my drawings. But that's just because he's… Felix…
Tren: There, finished it off!!!
Aillas: I thought you were crying and I was doing a fine enough job!!
Tren: (snorts) Sure. Well, updating as fast as I can. Also, did any of you happen to notice the fact that when Keichi came back to life the seal cracked a little??
Aillas: They probably didn't.
Tren: Well, until the next chapter!!
Aillas: CHEERIO!