Tren: Well, back from my trip, and we still have no highspeed internet so by the time you read this…. Well… let's just put it this way, it's been typed way before you even got the inkling to read the new chapter.
Aillas: Forgive her, they still can't seem to get the Geek Squad to visit.
Tren: Hey… has anybody ever written a fanfic with a certain… theme song in mind??
Aillas: What?? (confused)
Tren: Hm…. How to explain… (looks off, chin in hand like a scholar) Like, when I type certain stories, I think that if they were on T.V what music would be playing with them!!
Aillas: Tren… I think you're alone on that one…
Tren: (sighs) I was afraid of that!!
Aillas: Of course, aren't those what songfics are?
Tren: Sorta. I guess…. I mean, I don't put the lyrics in there…. Maybe I should? Or tell you readers what I'm listening to!!
Aillas: It'd just annoy them, Tren, face it. They really don't care about you so long as these chapters keep cranking out.
Tren: (sniff sniff) That's…. so heartless!!! YOU UNDYING FREAK!! I'M GONNA GET A NEW MUSE UNTIL YOU SHAPE UP AND BE NICE TO ME!!!! (runs off crying)
Aillas: Uh… oh… well, If I'm not here by the end of this chapter, you'll know what happened… Uh… please tell Tren you want me back if what I'm fearing is going to happen…. TREN!! TREN PLEASE DON'T THIS IS MY ONLY JOB!! (runs after Tren)
Although he wouldn't admit it to other people, especially to Keichi's face, Samui felt he was beginning to know the real Keichi, not the loud, crass, heartless individual that the school had come to accept with some degree of loathing. No… there was something else there, a soft heart and a hint of some sort of longing for something Samui couldn't place. He hadn't really thought of how little he knew about the teen until he sat there, day after day, healing him. Slowly, the bandages began to dwindle away as his burns healed until Keichi was well enough to sit up and was waiting for him even though visiting hours had long since ended and everybody who waited for him to get better had left. No, Samui didn't want anybody to know about his talent. It would attract far too much attention. But sure enough, there was Keichi, holding a water bottle in one still bandaged hand and looking off, his eyes staring at some unknown point of the plain wall.
"What are you doing Keichi?? You're not well enough to be holding anything, you're arms and hands held the worst burns, they're not fit to use yet," he chastised, peeling off his blazer, dressed only in a crisp white T-shirt and light cotton undershirt, his legs covered by a pair of baggy khaki slacks. He looked clean and bland as usual, making Keichi wrinkle his nose, as his fashion sense was always as flamboyant as his personality.
"I was thirsty and didn't want to disturb anybody, don't laugh, alright?" Keichi mumbled, taking a swig before clumsily letting the plastic bottle drop to the bedside table.
"What makes you think that I'd laugh?" Samui replied dryly, taking one of Keichi's bandaged mittens and starting his healing energy around the scarred and ruined muscles of the fingers.
"I dunno… you really don't have to do this, and I keep hating to remind you of this, but I'm not a good guy. You hate me. I was one of your first villains in your Spirit Detective career," Keichi replied rather airily.
"Well…." Samui mused on an answer before continuing. "I have the feeling you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be."
"Really, now?? Well, I can't have friends if that's what you're going for," the statement sounded aloof, but Samui could tell that Keichi meant the opposite… or more like, he wanted to have friends but couldn't. Intrigued, he pushed a bit further, his curiosity getting the best of him.
"What exactly do you mean by that??"
"…. People can't be friends with monsters," Keichi reply was dripping with a bitterness that made Samui stop and stare for a bit at his friend. Those unnatural eyes were glaring off at something in his imagination.
"Who says that you are a monster?" Horrified that anybody would be branded with such a harsh title, he wanted an answer but Keichi didn't give it as he sighed and looked over at Samui.
"How are your siblings?"
"They're fine…" he replied hastily, understanding that Keichi wanted the subject dropped but it didn't keep him from probing the enigma that was his classmate. "Keichi… is Minamino-san really the only family you have?"
"It depends. My mother died soon after my birth," Keichi sounded oddly remorseful, as he meant that she had died spiritually, which she had, "My old caretaker is still around… I don't have any other family besides my father's step-brother and such but they've sorta stopped talking. And then there's Hiei."
"Hiei!?" Samui had an innate fear of the short fire demon, passed on almost genetically from his father, who had decided with Yukina to keep the information that that fearsome little fire demon was indeed his uncle. They all preferred it that way.
"Yeah… When my dad was still… depressed, he raised me. He keeps in touch with me constantly, he's kinda like an uncle, or crazy cousin or a second father, you could say," Keichi said it all so nonchalantly that Samui couldn't suppress a shiver. No wonder Keichi had such a vicious streak. Sighing, he returned to his work while Keichi hummed to keep the silence at bay. There were a few things he wasn't sure he wanted to know about the riddle before him. Some things are better left… unsaid….
Two weeks later, Keichi was deemed fit to leave and outside a crowd had gathered, consisting of the Kuwabara family, Kurama and Midori and her family (minus Yusuke who was still in jail). All were rather anxious to see how the pretty boy had faired and then, he stepped out of the bathroom.
Dressed in a clean pair of faded black jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt, the few bandages left wrapped around his wrists, a few fingers and some of his upper arm stood out a snow white against the raven's wing of his clothes. Hanging around his neck was his medallion (which he had not worn the day he got burned so badly, simply because the chain was becoming old and weak and he had it fixed. Fears confirmed, he vowed to never remove that damn piece of jewelry as it seemed to be the source of his bad luck) and it seemed to glow brightly in the light. His eyes sparkled with the same mischievous and almost arrogant air but it was Midori who noticed the big change first. Gasping, her hands flew to her mouth.
"KECIHI!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR!?!"
"Most of it got burned off, it'll grow back, Midori," Keichi hastened and Samui would have laughed if he didn't see Midori's point of view. Keichi was always known for his waist long auburn hair but… they were gone… Though his bangs were still long-ish… the back was chopped rather short. In fact, to any Otaku out there, his hair looked just like Dark Mousy's (let me know if you know who he is). Sighing, Keichi ran a hand through the new cut and laughed. "But yeah… I look kinda silly now, huh??"
"Nonsense!! Dye it purple! Dear GAWD dye it purple!!" Midori shrieked in joy as Kurama shook his head quickly to try and dissuade the idea from his son's rather impressionable head. Keichi just laughed it off, running his hands through his hair and sighing at how short it was. He hoped it wouldn't turn off his girlfriend…
Summer vacation passed quickly for all of them, and two weeks before school started, Midori decided to pay a visit to Keichi, curious about his life. As she jogged up to the fence she noticed something rather unique. Unlike the rest of the yards with their prim and proper gardens all in a row on that block, this house's garden was verging on overgrown, the grass lush and vibrant emerald spanned over any empty space not inhabited by some odd and rare plant. Vines curled around the wrought iron fence, tendrils clutching to the metal with the gentle touch of an infant. There was a small tile pathway winding through the foliage that she followed strictly, knowing that with people like Kurama and Keichi for gardeners, it wasn't guaranteed that the plants wouldn't try to fight back. Skipping up to the door she knocked twice and took a step back as Kurama pulled it open and looked a tad bit surprised and then smiled at her warmly.
"Ah, Midori, a pleasure to see you, please come in," he moved slightly and let her come in, closing the door politely behind her. Immediately she noticed the fact the house was warm, filled with a sort of healthy golden glow as though a fire was crackling in the hearth, although there was nothing of the sort. The air was laced with the delicate scent of roses and some exotic food dish that made her mouth water, though as far as she could remember, Kurama wasn't all that good of a cook.
"I came to visit Keichi… di'ya mind??" she stood there, perky and cheerful in her khaki shorts and tied up white t-shirt ala Brittney Spears, though she oddly enough didn't make it appear tacky in the slightest.
"He's up in his room, go up the stairs, turn right, second door to your left," Kurama smiled at her oddly, as though trying to figure out just what she might want with his son without appearing rude. Without another word she bounced off, finally finding the door and noticing with some amusement that the metal was warped with dents the shape of fingers as though someone with unnatural strength had lost their temper. Twisting it open she found that his room was surprisingly clean, the bed made and crisply covered with a dusty jade comforter embroidered with leaves in a slightly darker thread. The soft summer wind was drifting through the window, toying with the soft cream linen curtain. Nestled in the corner was a battered wood desk that Keichi was bent over. The desktop was covered in scattered papers, plots and diagrams etched in white over a dark blue background. A lamp was bowed over shedding a little more light on what he was working on, though he hardly needed it compared with the sunlight outside. Two daggers were driven deep into the desk. One was folded black steel and rather sinister looking, with dark ruby jewels inset into the small pommel, and soft curls of silver imitated smoke wrapping around the handle. The other was a soft, pure silver, vines wrapping around the handle and a good portion of the blade itself, inlaid with the palest, purest jade. Unlike the other, it was far more simple and serviceable, though Midori now began to wonder just where those weapons had come from.
"Uh… What are you doing??" she asked, walking over to see that his long side bangs were pulled back from his face with a rubber band and he was dressed conservatively in a pair of faded and torn jeans and a plain white shirt.
"Work."
That was his entire reply. Looking down she noticed that there was a small silver orb resting on the desk and in one hand his slender fingers grasped a small wire tool, the other, what appeared to be a new fangled blowtorch, though smaller and with pinpointed precision. Small rectangular reader glasses were perched on his nose and his expression was one of grave concentration, both eyes that odd, demonic gold.
"What exactly IS your work??"
"Secret."
"How has your summer been?"
"Good."
"Uh…" Midori found herself at a loss for word, unsure on whether or not Keichi would ever get past his rather monosyllabic answers. "So… how did Koenma let you off?"
"Secret."
"Oh… alright..." she waited for a few moments, looking around his room once more, noticing that it was organized and simple. The closet was closed off by a frosted glass. In the corner across from the desk she saw many plants, which had taken to covering the walls and curling around Keichi's ankles rather lovingly. They were sitting on shelves, the floor or simply growing out of the occasional crack in the wall. Finally, realizing that Keichi probably wouldn't give her a real answer she sighed and left and as Kurama lead her politely to the door, she could have sworn that he had a "Shoulda warned you" expression on his face. Sighing, she decided she'd have to wait until school started to talk to her friend, she was going to be rather busy with her siblings. In the meantime, Keichi wondering vaguely who the person in his room was…
School hit Keichi like a brick wall, and he was a speeding Ferrari whose driver was underage and drunk. Sloshing through his complex schedule and lamenting about how his teachers had dragged him into too many honors classes and how he had been roped into their elite band. Blearily wondering if he had seen any of his friends in his classes he sighed, stopping almost reverently outside the thick metal doors to the lockers. Checking his schedule, he realized he was in the right place, afterwards he had lunch followed by music. What joy, he thought off sarcastically, he simply couldn't wait. Pushing the door open he made a face as he was barraged by the heady odor of sweat, musty mold and various body sprays. Wrinkling his delicate nose, Keichi sighed, heading over to the same little alcove of lockers he used last year, watching as the boys who had moved in left rather quickly, scurrying off to another little cavern filled with disgusting jocks.
"At least some things don't change," he muttered, pulling out his gym clothes and peeling off his shirt as he felt a soft, chilly aura appear move over behind him. Knowing that energy signal rather well he turned around and gave a grin to Samui, who stood there, still awkward with the idea of this communal style of getting undressed and then getting into one's gym clothes. Though he tried, Samui couldn't return the smile as strongly as Keichi had given it.
"Ah… Hello, Keichi. Do you mind if I share this area with you?"
"Nah, why would I??" he asked, turning around and despite himself Samui found his eyes roving over the exposed skin, surprised to see that the scars he had seen last year were missing, replaced with perfect, supple flesh and the marks from where the burns were on his arms were also curiously gone. In fact, Keichi skin was wholly unmarred which he thought was odd. Despite himself, he reached over and brushed his cool fingers against his friend's back, noticing that the skin felt warm and was stretched taut where his spine was. Was it just him, or was something truly wrong with Keichi's back? It looked almost like there were too many vertebrae.
"AUGH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!" Keichi cried out a second after Samui's fingers made contact. Pulling away and nearly bashing himself against the nearby locker, Keichi had somehow managed to pull on a loose white t-shirt and had an odd blush on his face. "WHY WHERE YOU TOUCHING ME??!"
"I… I'm sorry, something just seemed… odd… about your back," Samui apologized, embarrassed by the fact that he had been so tempted, and what's worse; he had given in to that temptation. It wasn't anything more than curiosity at his friend's oddly scar-less body but he could see where Keichi had taken it the wrong way.
"Huh?? Oh God, my tail isn't out is it!?" Keichi hissed, making sure his voice was low so that others wouldn't hear his voice. His tried to look around his back, only turning in circles in a way that was oddly comical and made Samui want to laugh.
"No, No!!"
That would have been an odd turn in a conversation, but they were just peculiar enough that this was going to become common place with them. Sighing in relief, Keichi laughed at his hasty actions as he looked over at Samui and cocked an eyebrow.
"Than what do you think is odd about my back?? I mean, it sticks out a lot, but it's just 'cuz I'm skinny," he explained in an oddly defensive way, making a face at Samui who just shook his head.
"Well…. Never mind, it's not important." He didn't want his friend to think he was suspicious of him, especially after they had just become friends. He received and odd look before Keichi shrugged it off and turned around to pull on his swim suit, knowing that they were heading to the pool to enjoy the last waning days of summer.
By the time he looked around, Samui was dressed in a pair of loose shorts and a white t-shirt. Curious as to why he wasn't dressed in the normal swim clothes attire for their school, he had to ask.
"Samui… why aren't you… uh… dressed to swim??"
"I'm not going to swim, my job is to serve as lifeguard. Besides, Ice powers and the pool…"he trailed it off there and Keichi nodded rather sagely, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Ah… I see…" he looked so serious it would have been funny as they headed off into the sun and out to the rest of the class. Not knowing what else to do, they milled around until Keichi noticed a familiar pair of green ribbons in jet black hair. Grinning widely he laughed and cupped his hand around his mouth.
"MIDORI!!"
She turned around quickly just as Keichi raced over, gave her a quick, strong hug and then pulled her away once more at arms length and gave her a once over with his eyes. She had a better figure than last year, he could tell that much, as she filled out the swimsuit nicely, though she had a towel draped over her chest and a light sarong wrapped around her hips.
"Keichi!! How've ya been?" she asked cheerfully, knowing that he probably still had no clue she had stopped by to see him when he was working on that silver orb.
"Fine! You… you look… great… You've grown up nicely," Keichi gave a content smile, before pulling her into a hug once more, this time with far less "pure" intentions than the time before.
"Ge'off!! What do you think you're doing??"
"Hugging you!" he replied innocently before sighing and looking off to where Samui had climbed the lifeguard's chair and was squinting through the glare on the water. "Should we really have the blind dude watchin' out for us??" he asked, slipping down smoothly into perfect splits.
"He's actually got good vision with those glasses on," Midori replied curtly in her friend's defense, cocking an eyebrow at Keichi position.
"Well, just sayin'," he shrugged, sliding back up with a fluid grace, as thought he floor was greased and his feet were on rollers. Giving an impressed little nod, she laughed as the teacher came out, called them to attention and started class. That's when things started to get interesting…
Tren: Lamest little cliff hanger.
Aillas: Yeah… that was the worst since "BUM BUM BUM", which was what you did for an old fanfic that you've long since deleted.
Tren: Wow…. Their entire summer vacation was filled up in one chapter.
Aillas: Well, (trying to reason it all out) they didn't do anything of importance.
Tren: Yeah… I guess that works (totally put out)
Aillas: You poor little misguided freak.
Tren: Well… found my first fanfic.
Aillas: What was it???
Tren: Script format, a talk show where my friends and I were the hosts and we talked to anime characters as though they were actors and such. It was…. Odd…
Aillas: Glad you've moved on.
Tren: Yeah…. Also, this chapter was written to these songs: Upside Down-Jack Johnson, Swing Life Away-Rise Against, Divorce Song-Liz Phair and Fair- Remy Zero.
Aillas: (rolls eyes) just in case you were wondering.
Tren: All of those are good songs… why not check 'em out??
Aillas: Yeah… (sarcasm) sure… they totally will.
Tren: (glare) Ya never know. And yeah, whatever music I listen to usually gives a good feel of the mood I'm in. Want me to let you know more often? Tell me in your review.
Aillas: Speaking of reviews…..
Tren: Right-o, let's respond to all of you good readers!!
-sugar high water uma: Wow… my stories keep people from going insane with boredom… That's… actually pretty cool!! (grins) YAY!! CANDYCORN!!
-rose of death: wow… you LOVED that chapter?? I'm so glad, it was quite fun to write. And Keichi will always end up with the role of comic relief… either him or Midori.
-Paksennarion: Was that black blurry thing Hiei?? Only time will tell. Go on your gut instinct. And as for Samui and Keichi become less hateful… well, only time will tell on that. AT least they're not homicidal to each other. And I kept Kurama in character?? Good, I always worry about that. He really is an outwardly calm character, I guess you could say.
-Sabs: Yes. I stopped sobbing
-Shadespirit: I have a hard time with the blade on the aluminum foil box too, so don't worry. But butter knives? There's talent in that. And see, Keichi has 100 years guaranteed, the little flashback told ya' so.
-Vitanie Tora: The blurred figure was Hiei… maybe… In marching band, yes. I normally play Oboe, but I march with the drum core in Cymbals. I also play piano (poorly). And Here is Aillas to answer your questions
(Suddenly in a talk show setting, Aillas is sitting in chair across from Tren)
Tren: How do you deal with an emotional woman? (points microphone at him)
Aillas: Poorly…. Very poorly.
Tren: How would you like to join Vitanie Tora and become her muse for a while, as she could really use one.
Aillas: Depends on the pay.
Tren: There weeeeeeeeeeeeee go!! (suddenly back to review answer setting) and as for writers block, perhaps you should work on a joint story with someone else? Like what I do with Sabs??
-HieiFan666: You should be happy, your last response was snappy!! I'm sure that Keichi would indeed be… happy… perhaps I should draw that picture instead, ne? Wow, you're friend made a website? That's tre cool.
Tren: That's it for the reviews.
Aillas: Which means…. What??
Tren: It means that I'm gonna get back to working in class.
Aillas: Tren's responding to these reviews in her Social Studies class right now on her laptop.
Tren: I HAVE P.E NEXT PERIOD!! I DON'T WANNNNNA GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!