Disclaimer: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, I'd be making way more than just 112
episodes, and I probably wouldn't be writing this, so I think it's safe to
say that no, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho . . . life is such a cruel, cruel
thing!
Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Well I hope. I've gotten some very nice reviews from people lately, and I'm grateful to everyone who read this. You guys are great. Well, this is Chapter Three, so please read it and enjoy. Thanks again!
Chapter: 3
Yusuke sighed. The weather was so strange. The day before it had been terribly hot and muggy, now the temperature was very lenient: cool, but not hot, breezy, but not windy, and the sky was full of puffy white clouds. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was going to school! This was the perfect day to skip and go do something more entertaining. The only thing stopping him was his promise to Keiko. He'd never broken a promise to her before and he wasn't about to start. The school year was nearly over anyway, and he had to pass the eighth grade. Oh well, life goes on he supposed.
He dragged himself through the doors of the junior high school, to his locker, and then to class. As he entered, several students eyed him warily. He merely scowled at them, and they averted their eyes, ignoring his presence completely. Yusuke dropped his books atop his desk and plopped into it. He hated English class! It was so boring. All they did was read stupid things by old dead people. Frankly, he didn't see the point in it. On the other hand, English was Keiko's favorite class. Even Kuwabara liked it, but Yusuke thought that that made a certain amount of sense. After all, Kuwabara was very good at reading between the lines and finding the over all meaning of things, he figured that that skill was due to his taller friend's empathic abilities.
Suddenly, the bell rang, urging people into their seats. Moments later the teacher walked in with a bright smile. He hated English, but he had to admit, he was fond of its teacher. Her name was Ms. Maggie Yugumai. She was young, in fact, the youngest on the staff, and she was friendly and full of energy and life. She was intelligent, and she seemed to be on very good terms with all of her students, whom she constantly proclaimed adoration for. Ms. Yugumai was definitely a far cry from many of the other teachers in the building. Because he respected her, Yusuke paid attention to the best of his abilities. He could not help it if he spaced off occasionally, but at least he read when he was asked to read, and he even started his homework assignment despite the fact that he had no intention of finishing it. The class seemed interminable, but eventually the bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom in flutter of girlish giggles and rapid talking. Yusuke however, hung back. He made sure that the class was empty before approaching Ms. Yugumai's desk. She looked up from her writing and smiled a surprised smile.
"Why, Yusuke. Hello." She said cheerily.
Yusuke was nervous. He had never approached a teacher about something like this before.
"Uh . . . hi. I was wondering if I could ask you something."
The woman nodded enthusiastically.
"Of coarse, ask away." She coaxed.
Yusuke shifted his weight to his other foot, for some reason he was unable to find a comfortable position to stand in.
"Listen, I know I haven't had the best attendance record in here, and I know I don't really turn in my work or anything, but I really need to pass this class."
There, he'd said it, but that didn't mean it was over.
Ms. Yugumai cross her arms over her chest and leaned back in her swivel chair. She fiddled with the pen between her fingers.
"Why?" She asked finally, and her eyes were locked on him.
Yusuke blinked.
" . . . What?"
"Yusuke, you haven't shown the slightest bit of interest in this class all year. Your attendance record HAS been quite terrible, and you're missing all but one of your assignments. So why do you suddenly care so much about passing?"
He considered. She had several good points. So the question was, should he lie to her or tell her the truth. Something in her bright, blue eyes told him that if he lied, she would know. Those eyes were keeping a secret, and housing a certain twinkle of knowledge. He sighed.
"I don't care, Ms. Yugumai." He said.
Her expression did not change, which meant she knew he had more to say.
"I could care less if I pass this class or not. I don't even like English that much. But I want to . . . HAVE to pass this class because of a promise."
This seemed to intrigue her. She set down her pen and picked up a paperweight to play with in its stead.
"A promise, hm? Interesting. What kind of promise, Yusuke?"
"A promise that I made to Keiko. I promised her that I'd graduate with her. Ms. Yugumai, I've never broken a promise to her, and I don't want to have to start now."
She sighed and set down the paperweight. Then she looked up at him with a sweet smile.
"Keiko and you. You're just the most unlikely couple, but I can see that you care for her very much, don't you?" She asked.
Yusuke nodded.
The young woman opened her desk drawer and rummaged through a collection of pencils, papers, erasers, chalk, and other random items. Finally, she pulled something out and closed the drawer. In her hand she held a sheet of slightly crumpled paper. She laid it on the desktop, and she smoothed it out.
"Do you recognize this? This is the one assignment that you turned in, Yusuke. I assigned it at the beginning of the year. It was to be titled, The One I Cherish Most. In it, you wrote that you didn't have many people who you truly cherished, but the ones that you did were dear to you. You spoke of three very particular boys who were your trusted friends, and then of Ms. Yukimura. You wrote that you two were involved with one another, but that first and foremost, she was your best friend. I read your paper Yusuke, and I was touched. Despite how you act, you're a very genuine, kind- hearted individual. You are sincere in your words when it counts, and that is something to be admired."
Yusuke bit his lip. This was very strange to hear coming out of a teacher's mouth.
"So, the question remains. Will I pass you? Perhaps, but only on one condition."
She said this and sat forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk.
He fidgeted.
"Like what?" He asked cautiously.
"You must come in every day after school for one hour. You will help me grade papers and, together, we will read Shakespeare and Poe. Is it a deal?" She asked.
She stuck out her hand.
Yusuke stared at her wide-eyed, and then at her slender hand. He blinked once, twice, gulped, and grabbed her hand. They shook on it, and Ms. Yugumai smiled.
"Great. We'll start tomorrow, and I promise, if you don't like English now, by the time I'm through with you, you will. Now you'd better get going to your next class or you'll be late."
Yusuke nodded and said good-bye as he left. He couldn't believe he'd just done that, it was weird, and yet, he felt okay with it. He didn't understand why, but the prospect of working with Ms. Yugumai wasn't so very terrible. He shrugged and shuffled off to his next class.
Much to his good fortune, the teacher in History was ill and they couldn't find a substitute teacher, so all of the students in that class got a free period. Yusuke snuck out of the classroom. He walked the familiar hallways, up a familiar flight of stairs, and onto a familiar roof. He sighed as the breeze hit his face, playing with his hair and whistling a hollow melody. He looked around. He could see all of the school from the rooftop and a good portion of the surrounding area. The sound of a whistle being blown caught his attention. He peeked over the edge that overlooked the gym, field, and track. It was the girl's gym period, and if he remembered correctly, Keiko's too. He smiled as he saw her walk out of the locker room. She was surrounded by a group of eagerly talking girls. Yusuke frowned. All of Keiko's friends drove him insane. They were so girlie and shrill sounding. He didn't know how Keiko stood them. He gulped then as he caught the sight of long, blonde hair glistening in the sun.
"Oh . . . well this should be interesting." He commented.
He made himself comfortable.
Meanwhile, Keiko chatted happily with her friends.
"No, I missed two." She said.
Caitlin gasped.
"No way Keiko, YOU didn't get 100%! I'm shocked!"
Keiko laughed.
"C'mon you guys, I'm not perfect!"
Erica rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah? Well that's not what Lee thinks."
Caitlin squealed.
"Oh yeah Keiko, we forgot to tell you! Lee was talking to a bunch of his friends and he said that he liked you and that he was going to ask you out! Aren't you excited?"
Keiko raised an eyebrow.
"No. I hate Lee, he's arrogant. All he ever does is talk about himself."
Cori rolled her eyes.
"Oh, and that violent, juvenile delinquent is better?" She asked sarcastically.
Keiko smiled fondly.
"Yusuke is . . . difficult sometimes, but he's a good person. He has a good heart." She replied softly.
The girls giggled.
"Keiko, you're so melodramatic!"
The whistle was blown again, bringing all of their attention to the teacher.
"Alright ladies, listen up. Today, we'll be running a relay race. There will be four teams. The winning team doesn't have to do the usual 30 sit- ups. Now line up and number off 1,2,3,4. All ones are on team number one; twos are team number two, exedra, exedra."
The girls formed their teams and the first runners took their colored sticks in hand. The teacher blew the whistle and the race began. They ran two laps before tagging the next person. Keiko was third, and she waited with her hand out to grab the stick. She saw her teammate come running up, and the moment the stick landed in her hand, she took off. Keiko smiled as she left the other runners behind her. She was the fastest girl in her class. Suddenly, something grabbed her attention. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and then she heard running footsteps. She turned her head to the side and gasped. Amissa was running right along beside her. The blonde looked over at her, seemingly surprised to see her, and then she glared at her. There was a challenge in her blue eyes as she began to pick up her pace.
'So you want to race, fine.' Keiko said in her mind.
She started running faster as well. She began to get ahead of Amissa, but then the girl caught up and was ahead of her. This went on for the entire first lap. In the second, Keiko fell behind a bit, but she managed to get at Amissa's side and soon was far out in front of her. At this point she was feeling rather good about the race when suddenly, out of nowhere, Amissa ran up to her side and rammed her elbow against Keiko's ribs. The girl cried out, lost her footing and fell to the ground. She skidded across the track's black pavement, leaving a trail of smeared blood behind, for the hot, rough surface tore at the skin on her legs. Keiko groaned when she came to a halt. She winced at the pain in her abused legs, but lifted her head. Amissa had stopped a ways up, and Keiko could see her smiling proudly. She heard yelling voices asking if she was all right, and then several people started coming towards her. But Amissa's smiling face was all that she could look at and she was filled with a sudden wave of anger. Suddenly, and much to everyone's surprise, Keiko climbed to her feet, and took off towards Amissa. She could feel the blood running down her legs, staining her white socks and sneakers. She didn't care, for the gratifying feeling of tackling a very surprised Amissa to the ground completely out classed the pain. Keiko grinned as she straddled the other girl's hips.
"Hm . . . doesn't this seem familiar?" She asked.
Amissa shoved Keiko off and sat up. At about this time the teacher came running up with most of the class behind him. He looked both shocked, and angry.
"Yukimura, Bennet! My office, now!" He ordered.
Keiko and Amissa got up off the ground, and headed towards the office.
"This is all YOUR fault." Amissa whispered harshly.
Keiko rolled her eyes.
"My fault? You shoved me!"
"You tackled me!"
"Only because you elbowed me in the ribs!"
Their bickering continued until the teacher yelled at them to shut-up, and even then they threw glares at one another.
Back up on the roof, Yusuke shook his head. He hoped Keiko didn't get into any trouble. Amissa had initiated everything, she always did. He hoped Keiko was all right too, as he was close enough to see that she had bloodied her legs. He shrugged, well, she was tough anyway.
The bell rang then, and he sighed as he left the roof. Fun, another wonderful class to attend.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! How are you all? Well I hope. I've gotten some very nice reviews from people lately, and I'm grateful to everyone who read this. You guys are great. Well, this is Chapter Three, so please read it and enjoy. Thanks again!
Chapter: 3
Yusuke sighed. The weather was so strange. The day before it had been terribly hot and muggy, now the temperature was very lenient: cool, but not hot, breezy, but not windy, and the sky was full of puffy white clouds. He rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe he was going to school! This was the perfect day to skip and go do something more entertaining. The only thing stopping him was his promise to Keiko. He'd never broken a promise to her before and he wasn't about to start. The school year was nearly over anyway, and he had to pass the eighth grade. Oh well, life goes on he supposed.
He dragged himself through the doors of the junior high school, to his locker, and then to class. As he entered, several students eyed him warily. He merely scowled at them, and they averted their eyes, ignoring his presence completely. Yusuke dropped his books atop his desk and plopped into it. He hated English class! It was so boring. All they did was read stupid things by old dead people. Frankly, he didn't see the point in it. On the other hand, English was Keiko's favorite class. Even Kuwabara liked it, but Yusuke thought that that made a certain amount of sense. After all, Kuwabara was very good at reading between the lines and finding the over all meaning of things, he figured that that skill was due to his taller friend's empathic abilities.
Suddenly, the bell rang, urging people into their seats. Moments later the teacher walked in with a bright smile. He hated English, but he had to admit, he was fond of its teacher. Her name was Ms. Maggie Yugumai. She was young, in fact, the youngest on the staff, and she was friendly and full of energy and life. She was intelligent, and she seemed to be on very good terms with all of her students, whom she constantly proclaimed adoration for. Ms. Yugumai was definitely a far cry from many of the other teachers in the building. Because he respected her, Yusuke paid attention to the best of his abilities. He could not help it if he spaced off occasionally, but at least he read when he was asked to read, and he even started his homework assignment despite the fact that he had no intention of finishing it. The class seemed interminable, but eventually the bell rang and everyone filed out of the classroom in flutter of girlish giggles and rapid talking. Yusuke however, hung back. He made sure that the class was empty before approaching Ms. Yugumai's desk. She looked up from her writing and smiled a surprised smile.
"Why, Yusuke. Hello." She said cheerily.
Yusuke was nervous. He had never approached a teacher about something like this before.
"Uh . . . hi. I was wondering if I could ask you something."
The woman nodded enthusiastically.
"Of coarse, ask away." She coaxed.
Yusuke shifted his weight to his other foot, for some reason he was unable to find a comfortable position to stand in.
"Listen, I know I haven't had the best attendance record in here, and I know I don't really turn in my work or anything, but I really need to pass this class."
There, he'd said it, but that didn't mean it was over.
Ms. Yugumai cross her arms over her chest and leaned back in her swivel chair. She fiddled with the pen between her fingers.
"Why?" She asked finally, and her eyes were locked on him.
Yusuke blinked.
" . . . What?"
"Yusuke, you haven't shown the slightest bit of interest in this class all year. Your attendance record HAS been quite terrible, and you're missing all but one of your assignments. So why do you suddenly care so much about passing?"
He considered. She had several good points. So the question was, should he lie to her or tell her the truth. Something in her bright, blue eyes told him that if he lied, she would know. Those eyes were keeping a secret, and housing a certain twinkle of knowledge. He sighed.
"I don't care, Ms. Yugumai." He said.
Her expression did not change, which meant she knew he had more to say.
"I could care less if I pass this class or not. I don't even like English that much. But I want to . . . HAVE to pass this class because of a promise."
This seemed to intrigue her. She set down her pen and picked up a paperweight to play with in its stead.
"A promise, hm? Interesting. What kind of promise, Yusuke?"
"A promise that I made to Keiko. I promised her that I'd graduate with her. Ms. Yugumai, I've never broken a promise to her, and I don't want to have to start now."
She sighed and set down the paperweight. Then she looked up at him with a sweet smile.
"Keiko and you. You're just the most unlikely couple, but I can see that you care for her very much, don't you?" She asked.
Yusuke nodded.
The young woman opened her desk drawer and rummaged through a collection of pencils, papers, erasers, chalk, and other random items. Finally, she pulled something out and closed the drawer. In her hand she held a sheet of slightly crumpled paper. She laid it on the desktop, and she smoothed it out.
"Do you recognize this? This is the one assignment that you turned in, Yusuke. I assigned it at the beginning of the year. It was to be titled, The One I Cherish Most. In it, you wrote that you didn't have many people who you truly cherished, but the ones that you did were dear to you. You spoke of three very particular boys who were your trusted friends, and then of Ms. Yukimura. You wrote that you two were involved with one another, but that first and foremost, she was your best friend. I read your paper Yusuke, and I was touched. Despite how you act, you're a very genuine, kind- hearted individual. You are sincere in your words when it counts, and that is something to be admired."
Yusuke bit his lip. This was very strange to hear coming out of a teacher's mouth.
"So, the question remains. Will I pass you? Perhaps, but only on one condition."
She said this and sat forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk.
He fidgeted.
"Like what?" He asked cautiously.
"You must come in every day after school for one hour. You will help me grade papers and, together, we will read Shakespeare and Poe. Is it a deal?" She asked.
She stuck out her hand.
Yusuke stared at her wide-eyed, and then at her slender hand. He blinked once, twice, gulped, and grabbed her hand. They shook on it, and Ms. Yugumai smiled.
"Great. We'll start tomorrow, and I promise, if you don't like English now, by the time I'm through with you, you will. Now you'd better get going to your next class or you'll be late."
Yusuke nodded and said good-bye as he left. He couldn't believe he'd just done that, it was weird, and yet, he felt okay with it. He didn't understand why, but the prospect of working with Ms. Yugumai wasn't so very terrible. He shrugged and shuffled off to his next class.
Much to his good fortune, the teacher in History was ill and they couldn't find a substitute teacher, so all of the students in that class got a free period. Yusuke snuck out of the classroom. He walked the familiar hallways, up a familiar flight of stairs, and onto a familiar roof. He sighed as the breeze hit his face, playing with his hair and whistling a hollow melody. He looked around. He could see all of the school from the rooftop and a good portion of the surrounding area. The sound of a whistle being blown caught his attention. He peeked over the edge that overlooked the gym, field, and track. It was the girl's gym period, and if he remembered correctly, Keiko's too. He smiled as he saw her walk out of the locker room. She was surrounded by a group of eagerly talking girls. Yusuke frowned. All of Keiko's friends drove him insane. They were so girlie and shrill sounding. He didn't know how Keiko stood them. He gulped then as he caught the sight of long, blonde hair glistening in the sun.
"Oh . . . well this should be interesting." He commented.
He made himself comfortable.
Meanwhile, Keiko chatted happily with her friends.
"No, I missed two." She said.
Caitlin gasped.
"No way Keiko, YOU didn't get 100%! I'm shocked!"
Keiko laughed.
"C'mon you guys, I'm not perfect!"
Erica rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah? Well that's not what Lee thinks."
Caitlin squealed.
"Oh yeah Keiko, we forgot to tell you! Lee was talking to a bunch of his friends and he said that he liked you and that he was going to ask you out! Aren't you excited?"
Keiko raised an eyebrow.
"No. I hate Lee, he's arrogant. All he ever does is talk about himself."
Cori rolled her eyes.
"Oh, and that violent, juvenile delinquent is better?" She asked sarcastically.
Keiko smiled fondly.
"Yusuke is . . . difficult sometimes, but he's a good person. He has a good heart." She replied softly.
The girls giggled.
"Keiko, you're so melodramatic!"
The whistle was blown again, bringing all of their attention to the teacher.
"Alright ladies, listen up. Today, we'll be running a relay race. There will be four teams. The winning team doesn't have to do the usual 30 sit- ups. Now line up and number off 1,2,3,4. All ones are on team number one; twos are team number two, exedra, exedra."
The girls formed their teams and the first runners took their colored sticks in hand. The teacher blew the whistle and the race began. They ran two laps before tagging the next person. Keiko was third, and she waited with her hand out to grab the stick. She saw her teammate come running up, and the moment the stick landed in her hand, she took off. Keiko smiled as she left the other runners behind her. She was the fastest girl in her class. Suddenly, something grabbed her attention. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and then she heard running footsteps. She turned her head to the side and gasped. Amissa was running right along beside her. The blonde looked over at her, seemingly surprised to see her, and then she glared at her. There was a challenge in her blue eyes as she began to pick up her pace.
'So you want to race, fine.' Keiko said in her mind.
She started running faster as well. She began to get ahead of Amissa, but then the girl caught up and was ahead of her. This went on for the entire first lap. In the second, Keiko fell behind a bit, but she managed to get at Amissa's side and soon was far out in front of her. At this point she was feeling rather good about the race when suddenly, out of nowhere, Amissa ran up to her side and rammed her elbow against Keiko's ribs. The girl cried out, lost her footing and fell to the ground. She skidded across the track's black pavement, leaving a trail of smeared blood behind, for the hot, rough surface tore at the skin on her legs. Keiko groaned when she came to a halt. She winced at the pain in her abused legs, but lifted her head. Amissa had stopped a ways up, and Keiko could see her smiling proudly. She heard yelling voices asking if she was all right, and then several people started coming towards her. But Amissa's smiling face was all that she could look at and she was filled with a sudden wave of anger. Suddenly, and much to everyone's surprise, Keiko climbed to her feet, and took off towards Amissa. She could feel the blood running down her legs, staining her white socks and sneakers. She didn't care, for the gratifying feeling of tackling a very surprised Amissa to the ground completely out classed the pain. Keiko grinned as she straddled the other girl's hips.
"Hm . . . doesn't this seem familiar?" She asked.
Amissa shoved Keiko off and sat up. At about this time the teacher came running up with most of the class behind him. He looked both shocked, and angry.
"Yukimura, Bennet! My office, now!" He ordered.
Keiko and Amissa got up off the ground, and headed towards the office.
"This is all YOUR fault." Amissa whispered harshly.
Keiko rolled her eyes.
"My fault? You shoved me!"
"You tackled me!"
"Only because you elbowed me in the ribs!"
Their bickering continued until the teacher yelled at them to shut-up, and even then they threw glares at one another.
Back up on the roof, Yusuke shook his head. He hoped Keiko didn't get into any trouble. Amissa had initiated everything, she always did. He hoped Keiko was all right too, as he was close enough to see that she had bloodied her legs. He shrugged, well, she was tough anyway.
The bell rang then, and he sighed as he left the roof. Fun, another wonderful class to attend.
