Word Count: 316
Ages: Yusuke-14
"According to some, heroic deaths are admirable things. I've never been convinced by this argument, mainly because, no matter how cool, stylish, composed, unflappable, manly, or defiant you are, at the end of the day you're also dead. Which is a little too permanent for my liking."
~Jonathan Stroud, The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Yusuke kicked a stray rock out of his way as he trudged back home. It was a cool night without a single breeze, perfect for all the thugs to make annoyances out of themselves. Luckily for him, they had it beaten into their skulls that messing with him was a bad thing to do.
He sighed, flexing his hands.
Maybe he shouldn't have punched Kurama.
He had been so annoyed at the redhead's choices he blanked for a second and introduced him to his fist. Then again, the guy probably deserved it for even thinking about leaving his mom and little brother.
The whole situation left a bad taste in his mouth.
It's all cool when the bad guys are just that. Bad guys. It starts to get sketchy when they become more relatable, more human. He saw more of himself in Kurama than he would like to admit. They both needed a punch to the gut in order to get themselves out of their self-deprecation.
He wrinkled his nose.
He was spending too much time with Keiko if he was thinking about words like 'self-deprecation' and actually knowing the meaning.
He resolved not to go to school tomorrow.
Maybe he'd head over to the Namimori Hospital to visit Kurama and his mom. Keiko couldn't complain about that.
Well, she could, but she wouldn't hit him for it.
He also had to fight that Hiei guy. Everyone else looked hesitant and wary over that battle, but Yusuke wasn't all that worried.
He had a gut feeling that everything would work out.
Okay, Yusuke is kind of hard to write...
Sorry for the long wait. Life and school have been hectic, to say the least. :/
Thanks for all of the reviews! You guys are so awesome!