Disclaimers: I don't own the Yu Yu Hakushu characters as much as I want to own them. This chapter is a restated version of Shawny Wong's Masquerade. Don't sue me!
-------------------------THREE
MONTHS AGO-----------------------------
"Hey
Kurama, some sorority girl asked me to give this to you," Yuusuke greeted
as he handed the neatly folded stationary to Kurama, who in turn just put it
inside his bag. He was visiting Kurama and Kuwabara in the university where they
were schoolmates.
"Aren't
you going to read it?" Kuwabara asked and put down his book he was reading
before Yuusuke came by.
"It's
like what I've received everyday in my locker," Kurama said, and then
winced. I haven't cleaned my locker yet, I'm sure, its crowded again with
letters, who the hell thought it was a good idea to put a hole in lockers for
letters and important notes, he thought.
"Same
as what you received everyday in your locker? Why, what are those sheets of
papers anyway?" Yuusuke asked and sat down beside Kuwabara to look straight
at Kurama.
"Yeah,
Kurama, what are all those stuffs? I've seen many times already that when you
open your locker, a handful of papers fell off."
Kurama
blushed. He looked from Yuusuke and Kuwabara only to find their eager faces.
Unfortunately for him, Yuusuke and Kuwabara seemed to agree for the first time.
And that is to know what all those pieces of paper are all about. He sighed.
"Those were love letters, "he mumbled.
"Love
letters?!" Yuusuke and Kuwabara gaped at him in unison.
"Not
so loud please," Kurama said, still blushing. "Yeah, those were love
letters, I don't even know how much I receive in a day. You see, I'm not
really reading them," he confessed.
"Why
not?" Kuwabara asked, confused.
"Because
they're so many, I won't be able to do anything if all I do is read those
nonsense love letters. And, oh, one more thing, almost one third of those
letters came from boys," Kurama groaned.
"Nani?!"
Kuwabara was dumbstriken while Yuusuke laughed so hard he could choke on it.
"That's
not funny," Kurama glared.
"Yuusuke
then turned silent. "Gomen, but why would boys give you love letters?"
Yuusuke asked seriously.
"Well,
according to a letter I've read once, I'm more beautiful than any girl in the
university, he doesn't care if I'm also a boy for that matter," he said
disgustingly.
Yuusuke
lost his composure and started laughing again even before Kurama finished his
story and Kuwabara, who took a long gulp at his softdrink turned a bright shade
of scarlet from choking.
Suddenly,
two roses struck near Yuusuke's and Kuwabara's hands. They both fell silent.
Another inch and their hands are surely pinned at the table.
"Arigatou
for the silence," Kurama said then smiled naughtily, the same smile that
would make any girl, and some boys, lose their insanity.
Kuwabara
turned his attention back to his schoolworks while Kurama opened his History
book, one of his big bulky ones, as if nothing happened and Yuusuke, still
ashamed of his behavior, won't look at Kurama's direction, instead, focus his
attention to a crowd of girls looking at them.
"Oi,
Kurama, who are those girls looking at us?" Yuusuke asked and pointed at
them with his lips.
Kurama,
because his back was on them, turned and began to pale. Sure enough, the
president of Shuichi-chan Fan Club, Yuri Misato, is approaching them.
"Shuichi-chan,
am I glad to see you," Yuri said huskily and sat beside Kurama even without
invitation.
"Same
here, Yuri-SAN," Kuwabara said, on a rescue when he sensed Kurama tensed
and paled. Though his friends, especially that little fire deamon, Hiei, think
he's stupid, he can easily sense when one of them needed help. And this kitsune
in front of him, no doubt do.
Yuusuke
saw the dirty look Yuri Misato had given Kuwabara and was amazed that with a
blink of an eye, it vanished when she turned to look at Kurama sweetly.
"So,
Shuichi-chan, as I was saying a while ago, actually, I need to ask you a small
favor," she said then smiled a little too innocently at Kurama. "Well,
I was hoping you can come over tonight at my house to help me with our
chemistry, I mean, my chemistry subject."
At
what she had said, Kurama grew paler. This is what he had been dreading. He
doesn't want to spend time with any girl, at least in the university, especially
THIS girl, because he doesn't want rumors to circulate. He looked at Yuusuke and
Kuwabara for help but the two seems to focus their attention on something else.
"Anou-"
Kurama started but suddenly interrupted by Yuri.
"Actually,
if you want, we could go to your place instead," she suggested and
flirtatiously put her hand on top of Kurama's.
Kurama
stared at his hands covered with hers and opened his mouth to say something but
was interrupted again by the ever familiar voice.
"Hello,
guys! No work today so I decided to visit you. what are you up to?" Botan
said cheerfully from behind Kurama.
"Botan,
you look great today," Kuwabara said appreciatively. Instead of wearing her
usual kimono, she now had on a pretty purple sundress which showed her curves
and highlighted the color of her eyes.
Kurama
saw the annoyed look on Yuri's face when Botan came and suddenly jumped at the
opportunity. He stood up and turned around as fast as he could, no faster than
Hiei, I mean, and enveloped Botan in a big hug, Botan could hardly breathe.
"Botan-chan!"
Kurama said in obvious delight.
"Are
you alright? Who is that girl anyway?" Botan asked curiously. Kurama had
never ever called her BOTAN-CHAN before, why would he now? she wondered.
"Shui-" Botan began.
"Her name is Yuri, Yuri Misato. She's a classmate of mine. No need to be jealous, kawaii," Kurama said huskily, but loud enough for Yuri, Yuusuke and Kuwabara to hear, as he took in deep breaths, his nose filling with her scent, a scent of spring and sunshine.
Botan's jaw dropped, Yuusuke's eyes looks like its gonna pop out of its socket and Kuwabara, dear old Kuwabara who thought it was all a dream, blinked, rubbed his eyes hard, looked again and now as confused as ever.
Meanwhile, Kurama smiled slightly when he noticed the murderous look on Yuri's face, well, not to mention the feeling of holding Botan close to him. He'd always treated Botan as a friend, though he'd always thought she's kinda cute, especially her sometimes hilarious tactics. His heart is racing wildly now, though at first, he thought it was only because of relief, now he didn't know what he feels for her. is it possible that a hug is all it took?
Botan, who now got over her surprise, saw the crowd of girls looking at them, or rather, at her. Some looked at her angrily and some looked teary-eyed. That's when it hit her- SLY FOX! she
wanted to scream , but then, who cares? It'll be fun being Kurama's girlfriend, the guy in every girl's dream, even if its only a game. She felt disappointed though, but, what the heck!
She hugged Kurama back and whispered in his ears, "I missed you, Shu-chan," then looked at Yuusuke and Kuwabara knowingly.
Kurama, who haven't recovered yet from the sensation that hit him, suddenly felt out of control. One look at those big, pretty purple eyes of her and he was lost. "I missed you, too," he said then
kissed the tip of her nose when Botan tried to shove him away. Anger, disappointment and embarrassment flooded him only to vanish instantly when Botan whispered sweetly that tons of students, most of them girls, were watching them.
"Oh?" was all Kurama said then smiled again at her.
Yuri, on the verge of grabbing either the hair or neck to throttle the intruder, was now beside Kurama and still won't give up the fight.
"Shuichi-CHAN, how come you never introduced me to HER?" Yuri said, giving emphasis to the word, "her". She moved next to Botan for others to see how she stood up for her beloved Shuichi.
By that time, they heard a clearing of throat and when Kurama turned around, he saw Yuusuke and Kuwabara picking up their things.
"Anou, Shuichi, we'll be at the ramen shop if you need us," Yuusuke said then nodded at Botan. "You be a good girl, ne, Botan?"
"We'll see you there," Botan chirped and waved at them.
When Kurama sensed that Yuri is still staring at, he began to feel uncomfortable again. But when he saw Botan looking innocently at him, he relaxed. How weird it is that he'd never felt this
uncomfortable when faced by more powerful Youkai, but just a look from Yuri can make him lose his nerves. And what's even more ironic is that the person who was now making him brave was the person they always have to save from trouble.
"Shuichi-chan!" Yuri grumbled, curling that pretty mouth of hers into a pout.
"Oh yeah, gomen ne for being rude," Kurama apologized, grabbed Botan and put his arms around her shoulder before proceeding. "You see, Botan here," he paused to look at the crowd of
girls, "is my girlfriend."
Girlfriend! The whole fan club wept, and if ever the news affected Yuri, she didn't show any sign. The entire university heard that Shuichi Minamino, the most sought-after male heartthrob in
campus, have a girlfriend.
"Shuichi-SAN, I'd like to talk to you privately for a while," Botan demanded, that soft, cheerful eyes of her now stared coldly at Kurama.
"Now what?" Kurama panickedly thought.
Author's note: I don't know if Shawny Wong's Masquerade is better than mine but I really really want to finish her story so I made my own, I hope she won't mind because mine will most probably be different than hers. This is the only the first chapter of this comedy-drama-romance story. I don't really know how to classify it.