Chapter 10: Yusuke's Weakness and Strength

"What do you mean you already met him?"
"Well it's an interesting story, really. -"
"Basically I was going to cut his ugly head off."
Yusuke had arrived home a little while before. When he asked if Koenma had contacted them, Kurama and Hiei told him about the encounter they had already had with Braeden. Apparently, he wasn't too thrilled about this news.
"Hiei attempted to, but to no avail," Kurama corrected.
Hiei let out a low growl. "I do not try, Kurama. I will kill him," he stated harshly.
"Not if I get to him first," Yusuke said.
"Stay out of it." Hiei turned on Yusuke.
"Hey, the mission was assigned to me. You guys are just back up."
"The demon will die by my hand," Hiei said in a low but dangerous tone, matter-of-factly. "If you get in the way I will kill you."
Hiei turned on his heel and stalked towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" Kurama called.
"Out." Hiei went past Yusuke's mother, who had a confused look on her face, and out the door.
Seeing his mother there Yusuke jumped a little. "Mom."
She turned and looked at her son. "Are you having a party, Yusuke?"
Yusuke sighed, partly from relief that she apparently hadn't heard anything important. "Sure mom, whatever."
"That's nice." She smiled. "I think I'll go and get ready for tonight."
"What's happening tonight?"
"Some friends are coming over for a couple drinks. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." Yusuke rolled his eyes.
"Oh, one more thing. Why is there a girl sitting on our roof?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sun was getting lower in the sky, until eventually it would sink beneath the horizon. Amaranta sat silent on the roof of Yusuke's house still clad in Keiko's clothes. She was staring off into the distance, whether deep in thought or just enjoying the quiet, one could not tell.
She didn't flinch as someone jumped up next to her.
"What are you doing up here? You should be glad my mom is who she is or else she might have freaked."
Yusuke put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the demon girl.
"Where is everyone?" Amaranta asked, avoiding his question and not looking away from the horizon.
"Well Keiko has homework, Kuwabara is with Ukina somewhere, Botan is in Spirit World trying to find out anything else she can about Braeden, I-"
"You're here with me," she cut in. "Where is Hiei?"
"He stalked off a little while ago."
"And Kurama is with him?"
"He just went." Yusuke sat down next to the girl and looked out with her. He shivered a little as a cold wind blew by. Or was the shiver because he was sitting so close to this demon?
"May I ask you something?"
Yusuke was a little startled by the question, but said, "Sure."
"What is it like knowing someone cares greatly for you?"
There was a slight pause of silence. "What do you mean?" Yusuke finally asked.
"Keiko. She cares greatly for you. It's obvious. What's it like to know she likes you so much?"
Yusuke sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes it's reassuring but other times it's frightening. I mean, what if one of my opponents were to use her against me? Hiei already did. And during that fight the only thing I could think about was Keiko's safety. But in a way I guess you could say her feelings for me make me stronger. Like I said, it's a reassurance to know that she will always be here for me when my battles are done. I guess, in a way, she is my weakness and my strength."
Amaranta was silent. She continued to stare out at the horizon. Yusuke looked over at her.
"Why do you ask?"
"Don't take that for granted." Again she was avoiding his question. "Don't take her for granted. Consider yourself lucky, Yusuke. Some people will never know what it's like."
Amaranta jumped down and landed lightly on the ground. Yusuke didn't move. He sat in silence, thinking over the words Amaranta had just said to him. Was there more to this demon than meets the eye?