Disclaimer: Roses are red violets are blue. I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, you
no sue!
I just realized. Jiro WAS the name of the dog in YYH manga. Thanks Yamikitsune, that never clicked! I got the name from one of the characters in Legacy of the Shadow Dancer, where I am a co-authoress.
Chapter 13 Bitter Honey
"Class, class, please, settle down." The teacher at the front of the room called out over the bustle that was taking place in his room, "Please take your seats, thank you. As you well know, this weekend is Mother's day. So, since today is Friday, why don't we just take a side step, and each of you write down a short sentence or two about your mom, fold it up and place it in this hat." The teacher took out a large black hat out from underneath his desk, "And then I would pick two at random, and those mothers who are on here will receive a weekend at Japan's most famous bath house."
Kurama covered his mouth as he tried to stifle a small yawn. The teacher placed a piece of playing white paper on his desk when he was passing by and glanced at Kurama, "Shuuichi, did you not sleep well last night?"
"I am afraid so."
~§~
"How is he doing?" Shiori asked Hatakana as she stepped into her son's hospital room, took off her coat and placed it on the back of a blue plastic chair.
Hatakana looked at her as if he had rain clouds casting a shadow over his face, "He asked me if he is to make a will. I believe that sums it up."
Shiori stood there, staring past her sons hospital bed, into another world, a world that was not falling apart before her, but as if it was a pocket in time, not moving forward, not moving backwards. Just, there, not moving.
"Shiori! Please sit down," Hatakana instructed as he caught her in his arms after she started to sway. He helped her walk over to a chair, and then she slowly sat down, eyes that looked as if they were looking into another realm.
Hatakana stood up, and looked down at his wife concerned. He had never seen her like this, and he never expected to either, "Shiori? Are you alright?"
"Yes. I am fine." Shiori answered, rubbing her eyes, "Just an unwanted memory, that is all. Why don't you go home and get some rest?" Shiori asked her husband who looked like he was trampled by rush hour traffic.
"Are you sure you want to be left alone?" Hatakana asked.
Shiori smiled at him as best as the thoughts that were occurring in her head would allow, "I will be fine. Shuuichi will most likely stop by here after school. Go home and get some rest, dear."
~§~
"Mother?" Shuuichi asked an hour later after his father left.
Shiori stood up from the plastic chair she was sitting in and went over to her stepsons' bed, "Yes? What is it?"
"Does Shuuichi ever seem to be different at times to you?"
"I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are saying." Shiori confessed.
Shuuichi thought for a few seconds and rephrased his question, "Does he ever seem to change some times? Like his personality?"
Shiori looked down at her son, and considered what he asked, "I believe all teenagers do at his age, but yes, I have noticed. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering." Shuuichi answered and closed his eyes as if talking took all the energy out of him.
Shiori glanced at the heart rate meter beside her stepson's bed to see that his heart was beating a little bit slower then usual. She then looked back down at her stepson, letting her mind glaze over what it would be like to live with out him for the rest of her life. But then Shiori pulled her train of thought over to the recent news she has been hearing shards of here and there, about the women who was shot in the shoulder. She did not want to imagine what it would be like with out Shuuichi, it was far too painful.
Shiori remembered glancing at the TV when the news station was talking about the attempted murder. The women looked so familiar, but older. She started to wonder where she had seen that face before.
Shiori then left her son's bedside and went back into the same blue plastic chair. She staring off, trying to figure out who the women was, until a gray haired nurse walked in that looked like she has been left out in all types of weather, "Do you have some time?" She asked softly.
Shiori looked up and nodded her head for she could not trust her voice.
"I have these pamphlets, I hope they do not upset you any further, but to put it bluntly, the doctors see no road to recovery for your son." The nurse handed Shiori the pamphlets, and once Shiori looked at the front of them, her eyes widened in horror.
The nurse looked down at Shiori and said in a gentle voice, "If you need any one to talk too, you can find me in the children's wing." And then left Shiori alone.
The pamphlets dropped out of Shioris hand's as if they were scolding hot, and landed onto the floor by her feet. She looked at them as if they were a great evil, and that she wanted nothing to do with them. But, the pamphlets told her that they held information that would be useful to her. The silent argument went on for a few minutes, in till Shiori finally picked up a tan pamphlet.
~§~
"Just a reminder, your reports are due at the end of next week!" The teacher shouted over the noise of students leaving, "And to the students whose mothers won, please inform them as soon as you can!"
Kurama gathered up his books in his arms, said good by to the teacher, and left the classroom with students running past him down the hall to the double doors that had held freedom behind them.
Once outside, Kurama looked up to the sky, which was growing overcast with angry clouds. He could smell moisture in the air, 'About a half hour' he thought, estimating the time it would take to rain. Kurama then started to walk in the direction of home, listening to his surroundings. Some one was playing Raven by Do As Infinity rather loudly; there were groups of people talking and laughing nearby, and the natural hustle on the streets.
"You look rather down." A black haired classmate of Kurama's said when she caught up with him, "Is something bothering you?"
Kurama glanced at the girl who was walking beside him, and smiled, "I am doing alright, thank you for asking."
"I have heard rumors that your stepbrother is severely ill, is that true?"
Kurama blinked, what less did he expect? "I am afraid that is true. May I ask how long this has been going around the school?"
"For a while now, one of my friends told me."
"Oh. Congratulations for your mother winning the drawing."
The girl smiled, "Thanks. Well, I wish both you and your family well." The black haired girl then put on a pair of headphones and walked across the street.
Kurama started to think about his mother, and how much she had done for him over the years, after all, she was the one who showed him true, unconditional love, 'I wonder what she would want for Mothers Day.' He thought as he turned a corner into his neighborhood, 'A weekend away would do her good, if she could get her mind off of recent events.'
~§~
Just as Kurama got home, his stepfather was stepping out of the door with a worried look on his face. Kurama quickened his pace as his father was locking the door, "What is wrong?" Kurama called out.
"You mother wishes both of us at the hospital." Hatakana answered, unlocking the door so Kurama could put his books inside.
Kurama glanced back up again at the sky and then hurried inside the door, placed his books on the floor, and walked back out, "Do you know how he is doing?" Kurama asked.
"No, I do not. You mother just called and told me to come to the hospital as soon as possible, and to bring you along if I saw you walking home."
"How did she sound?"
Hatakana was silent as he locked the door, and then when he and Kurama started to walk out onto the sidewalk, he answered, "Heart broken."
~§~
Shuuichi felt the presence of his father and stepbrother enter the room, but he did not open his eyes, nor acknowledge them in any way.
"A nurse handed me these, I think you two should look at them as well." Shiori said as confidently as she could manage as she held up a packet of brochures up to her family, 'I must be stable, for both of them.' Shiori thought.
Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly as he took on from his mother hand and quickly scanned it, wondering cynically if the hospital was also a marketing place.
"So, I am guessing that we will not be transferring him to any other hospitals?" Hatakana asked softly.
"That is what I perceive. The nurse said, 'but the doctors see no road to recovery for your son.'" Shiori sighed and put her hands in her lap.
"How much pain do you think he is in?" Hatakana asked while he was reading a black, blue, and maroon pamphlet on how family's can deal with a death.
"I don't know."
Kurama looked over his shoulder to where Shuuichi was lying, and then pretended to read the brochure that explained the process a person goes through when they are nearing too death.
It was then silent in the room, an uneasy silence between Shiori and Hatakana, just like when some one gets paired up with a total stranger while in Junior High. Hatakana rocked on his feet every now and then, Shiori was tapping her foot, but Kurama was unaffected.
A few moments later, Shiori stood up, "Are either of you hungry?" She asked, I am going downstairs to get my self something to drink.
"I am fine, thanks." Kurama answered.
"I will go with you, I need to walk a little." Hatakana said.
~§~
Drip, drip, drip, the rain started to slowly drop as Kurama watched a nurse switch his stepbrothers IV bag. A few seconds later, he saw Shuuichi's face scrunch up, as if liquid fire was prowling through his veins. Kurama watched the nurse leave, and then stood up and walked over to a window that was by his stepbrothers' bed.
Shuuichi opened his eyes and watched Kurama look out the window. He was not sure his stepbrother could feel him watching, but as far as he could tell, he paid no heed.
The rain was starting to come down faster, as if it was wanting to cleanse the earth of the many vile things that lived upon it's surface. But at every time it tired, it never succeeded; because man kept on developing newer things that caused its surroundings to slowly diminish.
"Please, just kill me." Shuuichi asked out load, his voice full of the pain his body was being put through, "They all know I am going to die anyways, so I do not see the point of trying to make me live longer."
'Then why don't you just kill him yourself?' Yomi's voice floated through his head.
Kurama felt like he was floating in a dark cold void, where there was no up, and no down, nor a right, or a left. Just standing there, trapped.
Then the void shattered and pieces of glass fell all around him. He shielded himself, but not apiece came close to him, like he was protected, yet harmed.
~~§§~~
I am no longer going to guarantee when I will get next chapters out. I am sorry for the delay for this one, it is just that school is getting out May 22 for me, and finals are on Wednesday and Thursday.
But the largest delay for this chapter was because I written it all by hand because of a sudden spurt of inspiration on a three hour car drive, and I have horrible handwriting when in motion or sitting still.
I am thinking of doing some humor *people gasp* in the next chapter because I need to get my brain out of the dark side of the moon. But maybe I wont, who knows? I just might murder some one, in this story, not in real life.
I just realized. Jiro WAS the name of the dog in YYH manga. Thanks Yamikitsune, that never clicked! I got the name from one of the characters in Legacy of the Shadow Dancer, where I am a co-authoress.
Chapter 13 Bitter Honey
"Class, class, please, settle down." The teacher at the front of the room called out over the bustle that was taking place in his room, "Please take your seats, thank you. As you well know, this weekend is Mother's day. So, since today is Friday, why don't we just take a side step, and each of you write down a short sentence or two about your mom, fold it up and place it in this hat." The teacher took out a large black hat out from underneath his desk, "And then I would pick two at random, and those mothers who are on here will receive a weekend at Japan's most famous bath house."
Kurama covered his mouth as he tried to stifle a small yawn. The teacher placed a piece of playing white paper on his desk when he was passing by and glanced at Kurama, "Shuuichi, did you not sleep well last night?"
"I am afraid so."
~§~
"How is he doing?" Shiori asked Hatakana as she stepped into her son's hospital room, took off her coat and placed it on the back of a blue plastic chair.
Hatakana looked at her as if he had rain clouds casting a shadow over his face, "He asked me if he is to make a will. I believe that sums it up."
Shiori stood there, staring past her sons hospital bed, into another world, a world that was not falling apart before her, but as if it was a pocket in time, not moving forward, not moving backwards. Just, there, not moving.
"Shiori! Please sit down," Hatakana instructed as he caught her in his arms after she started to sway. He helped her walk over to a chair, and then she slowly sat down, eyes that looked as if they were looking into another realm.
Hatakana stood up, and looked down at his wife concerned. He had never seen her like this, and he never expected to either, "Shiori? Are you alright?"
"Yes. I am fine." Shiori answered, rubbing her eyes, "Just an unwanted memory, that is all. Why don't you go home and get some rest?" Shiori asked her husband who looked like he was trampled by rush hour traffic.
"Are you sure you want to be left alone?" Hatakana asked.
Shiori smiled at him as best as the thoughts that were occurring in her head would allow, "I will be fine. Shuuichi will most likely stop by here after school. Go home and get some rest, dear."
~§~
"Mother?" Shuuichi asked an hour later after his father left.
Shiori stood up from the plastic chair she was sitting in and went over to her stepsons' bed, "Yes? What is it?"
"Does Shuuichi ever seem to be different at times to you?"
"I am sorry, but I do not understand what you are saying." Shiori confessed.
Shuuichi thought for a few seconds and rephrased his question, "Does he ever seem to change some times? Like his personality?"
Shiori looked down at her son, and considered what he asked, "I believe all teenagers do at his age, but yes, I have noticed. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering." Shuuichi answered and closed his eyes as if talking took all the energy out of him.
Shiori glanced at the heart rate meter beside her stepson's bed to see that his heart was beating a little bit slower then usual. She then looked back down at her stepson, letting her mind glaze over what it would be like to live with out him for the rest of her life. But then Shiori pulled her train of thought over to the recent news she has been hearing shards of here and there, about the women who was shot in the shoulder. She did not want to imagine what it would be like with out Shuuichi, it was far too painful.
Shiori remembered glancing at the TV when the news station was talking about the attempted murder. The women looked so familiar, but older. She started to wonder where she had seen that face before.
Shiori then left her son's bedside and went back into the same blue plastic chair. She staring off, trying to figure out who the women was, until a gray haired nurse walked in that looked like she has been left out in all types of weather, "Do you have some time?" She asked softly.
Shiori looked up and nodded her head for she could not trust her voice.
"I have these pamphlets, I hope they do not upset you any further, but to put it bluntly, the doctors see no road to recovery for your son." The nurse handed Shiori the pamphlets, and once Shiori looked at the front of them, her eyes widened in horror.
The nurse looked down at Shiori and said in a gentle voice, "If you need any one to talk too, you can find me in the children's wing." And then left Shiori alone.
The pamphlets dropped out of Shioris hand's as if they were scolding hot, and landed onto the floor by her feet. She looked at them as if they were a great evil, and that she wanted nothing to do with them. But, the pamphlets told her that they held information that would be useful to her. The silent argument went on for a few minutes, in till Shiori finally picked up a tan pamphlet.
~§~
"Just a reminder, your reports are due at the end of next week!" The teacher shouted over the noise of students leaving, "And to the students whose mothers won, please inform them as soon as you can!"
Kurama gathered up his books in his arms, said good by to the teacher, and left the classroom with students running past him down the hall to the double doors that had held freedom behind them.
Once outside, Kurama looked up to the sky, which was growing overcast with angry clouds. He could smell moisture in the air, 'About a half hour' he thought, estimating the time it would take to rain. Kurama then started to walk in the direction of home, listening to his surroundings. Some one was playing Raven by Do As Infinity rather loudly; there were groups of people talking and laughing nearby, and the natural hustle on the streets.
"You look rather down." A black haired classmate of Kurama's said when she caught up with him, "Is something bothering you?"
Kurama glanced at the girl who was walking beside him, and smiled, "I am doing alright, thank you for asking."
"I have heard rumors that your stepbrother is severely ill, is that true?"
Kurama blinked, what less did he expect? "I am afraid that is true. May I ask how long this has been going around the school?"
"For a while now, one of my friends told me."
"Oh. Congratulations for your mother winning the drawing."
The girl smiled, "Thanks. Well, I wish both you and your family well." The black haired girl then put on a pair of headphones and walked across the street.
Kurama started to think about his mother, and how much she had done for him over the years, after all, she was the one who showed him true, unconditional love, 'I wonder what she would want for Mothers Day.' He thought as he turned a corner into his neighborhood, 'A weekend away would do her good, if she could get her mind off of recent events.'
~§~
Just as Kurama got home, his stepfather was stepping out of the door with a worried look on his face. Kurama quickened his pace as his father was locking the door, "What is wrong?" Kurama called out.
"You mother wishes both of us at the hospital." Hatakana answered, unlocking the door so Kurama could put his books inside.
Kurama glanced back up again at the sky and then hurried inside the door, placed his books on the floor, and walked back out, "Do you know how he is doing?" Kurama asked.
"No, I do not. You mother just called and told me to come to the hospital as soon as possible, and to bring you along if I saw you walking home."
"How did she sound?"
Hatakana was silent as he locked the door, and then when he and Kurama started to walk out onto the sidewalk, he answered, "Heart broken."
~§~
Shuuichi felt the presence of his father and stepbrother enter the room, but he did not open his eyes, nor acknowledge them in any way.
"A nurse handed me these, I think you two should look at them as well." Shiori said as confidently as she could manage as she held up a packet of brochures up to her family, 'I must be stable, for both of them.' Shiori thought.
Kurama's eyes narrowed slightly as he took on from his mother hand and quickly scanned it, wondering cynically if the hospital was also a marketing place.
"So, I am guessing that we will not be transferring him to any other hospitals?" Hatakana asked softly.
"That is what I perceive. The nurse said, 'but the doctors see no road to recovery for your son.'" Shiori sighed and put her hands in her lap.
"How much pain do you think he is in?" Hatakana asked while he was reading a black, blue, and maroon pamphlet on how family's can deal with a death.
"I don't know."
Kurama looked over his shoulder to where Shuuichi was lying, and then pretended to read the brochure that explained the process a person goes through when they are nearing too death.
It was then silent in the room, an uneasy silence between Shiori and Hatakana, just like when some one gets paired up with a total stranger while in Junior High. Hatakana rocked on his feet every now and then, Shiori was tapping her foot, but Kurama was unaffected.
A few moments later, Shiori stood up, "Are either of you hungry?" She asked, I am going downstairs to get my self something to drink.
"I am fine, thanks." Kurama answered.
"I will go with you, I need to walk a little." Hatakana said.
~§~
Drip, drip, drip, the rain started to slowly drop as Kurama watched a nurse switch his stepbrothers IV bag. A few seconds later, he saw Shuuichi's face scrunch up, as if liquid fire was prowling through his veins. Kurama watched the nurse leave, and then stood up and walked over to a window that was by his stepbrothers' bed.
Shuuichi opened his eyes and watched Kurama look out the window. He was not sure his stepbrother could feel him watching, but as far as he could tell, he paid no heed.
The rain was starting to come down faster, as if it was wanting to cleanse the earth of the many vile things that lived upon it's surface. But at every time it tired, it never succeeded; because man kept on developing newer things that caused its surroundings to slowly diminish.
"Please, just kill me." Shuuichi asked out load, his voice full of the pain his body was being put through, "They all know I am going to die anyways, so I do not see the point of trying to make me live longer."
'Then why don't you just kill him yourself?' Yomi's voice floated through his head.
Kurama felt like he was floating in a dark cold void, where there was no up, and no down, nor a right, or a left. Just standing there, trapped.
Then the void shattered and pieces of glass fell all around him. He shielded himself, but not apiece came close to him, like he was protected, yet harmed.
~~§§~~
I am no longer going to guarantee when I will get next chapters out. I am sorry for the delay for this one, it is just that school is getting out May 22 for me, and finals are on Wednesday and Thursday.
But the largest delay for this chapter was because I written it all by hand because of a sudden spurt of inspiration on a three hour car drive, and I have horrible handwriting when in motion or sitting still.
I am thinking of doing some humor *people gasp* in the next chapter because I need to get my brain out of the dark side of the moon. But maybe I wont, who knows? I just might murder some one, in this story, not in real life.