Adhesive
By Tione
Disclaimer: I laugh.
A/N: Now that I've got another chapter of RD pumped out, I thought I'd update this one. I thought I'd get this out before I went on vacation…
Warnings: This story is shounen-ai.
I have the worst luck ever.
"You're awfully pretty for a guy," Idiot #1 leered. He was your typical thug; big, muscular, stupid.
"I see you're not," I replied coolly. Best not let them see they were getting to me. "Now, is it really necessary to tie me up? This is rather uncomfortable."
"Uh…" So were the words of Idiot #3. Sorry, were there too many syllables in that sentence? I was spared verbally bashing him by my mysterious savior, who was perched in the corner.
"You could be a possible threat." He had ignored me and the Idiots until now.
"If I was a possible threat, then why did you rescue me?" I inquired curiously.
"I thought you were Yusuke."
I shut up after that. The Idiots didn't, but now they were taunting some innocent sand rat. This particular sand rat was actually cute, unlike most of the race. It was round and its little legs were sticking out of its sides. It had a mop of strategically placed black hair on its head. He/she/it also had comically large eyes that were staring at me with a "feed me" look on its face.
I shifted uncomfortably. Mr. Short-Dark-and-Handsome had taken me here after the daring rescue and discovery that I was not "Yusuke." We were quartered in a dingy little shed with broken furniture and a dirt floor. I briefly wondered where the door in the corner of the room led to. I wasn't particularly curious if it contained my demise.
The little sand rat hobbled over to me, having left the Idiots clutching their fingers and moaning like the end of the world was near.
"Hi little fella," I whispered to it. Short-Dark-and-Handsome's ears perked up a bit at that. So maybe I wasn't normal, talking to a sand rat, but I needed to do something to quench my boredom.
He/she/it gave me its "feed me" face again, looking utterly pathetic in doing so.
"Sorry, I can't feed you right now. I'm kinda tied up. So what's your name?"
"Are you amusing yourself?" S-D-a-H asked sarcastically.
"Shut up," I grumbled half-heartedly. Turning back to the sand rat, I said with flourish, "I shall name you-"
"Puu! Where are you?" the same man whom I had been seated next to at the execution shouted.
The sand rat scrambled eagerly over to him, chirping energetically and pointing one of its short legs in my direction. The man laughed and patted it on the head.
S-D-a-H hopped from his place to stand in front of the man and said, "We got this guy instead of you, Yusuke. What should we do with him?"
Yusuke grinned. "You're the one that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, correct? What's your name?"
Yusuke was the only person who had been polite to me the entire time. Could I trust him? "Kurama. My name's Kurama."
There was a slamming noise (originating from the door) and a loud shout. "YUSUKE!"
Said Yusuke cringed and S-D-a-H shot him a pitying look. "Keiko," they said simultaneously.
"Before you get beat up, what should we do with the prisoner?" S-D-a-H questioned.
"For one thing, untie him. Feed him. By then, I should be free to-" We never found out what Yusuke would be free to do because a hoard of people crowded into the shabby hut shouting, rough housing, and generally making a lot of noise.
Another loud "YUSUKE!" resonated and the noise died down. Unfortunately, the owner of the voice, most definitely a female, did not.
"YUSUKE, YOU IMBECILIC IDIOT! _YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!_ DOES THAT REGISTER IN YOUR SMALL BRAIN OR DO I NEED TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU? I SWEAR, ONE OF THESE DAYS-" It was the same girl who had pleaded with the guard.
Yusuke muttered something incomprehensible in his defense, which just set the girl, Keiko, off more. In fact, she reached out and hooked her fingers around his earlobe securely and pulled him out of the hut.
Silence reigned until I leaned over, now untied, and asked a red haired guy standing next to me, "Are they always like that?"
He laughed, his voice somewhat hoarse sounding. "Oh, Urameshi always gets his ass kicked by Keiko. She's the only one who can keep him in line. They'll be making out in about five minutes!" He laughed again.
"Oh."
I would have stood around and studied the hut more extensively if it weren't for a blue haired girl bouncing up to me.
"Hi! You must be a new member, right? We've got a good ceremony planned! We almost lost all of our special task force in the process, but we got that orb-y thing from-" The girl greatly resembled a pixie, if I do say so myself. She could have passed for a fairy on Halloween if, in fact, I knew what Halloween was and it actually existed.
The red headed guy standing next to me cut her off quickly. "Botan! He's not a new member! This is the guy Hiei rescued instead of Yusuke!"
"Oh…" Botan looked lost. "OH!"
I would have asked what the "orb-y thing" was but I knew when to keep my mouth shut. Asking probably wouldn't earn me a free meal from these people.
"My name's Kuwabara. Just ignore Botan," At that point he shot her a well-placed death glare that sent her scurrying. "She has a mouth larger than the Queen's palace."
"Nice to meet you. My name is-" I started to tell him.
"Kurama. I know; I heard you talking to Urameshi."
We lapsed into silence after that, watching the festivities. For such a small hut, this place sure could hold a lot of people. It seemed there was some kind of party going on. Could it have something to do with the special task force that was almost lost?
I continued to contemplate this idea before discarding it as none of my business but that didn't stop me from scanning the crowds to see if I recognized anyone. I met one pair of eyes in particular, a pair of blood red ones that watched me with a deadly look on their owners face.
* * *
It's nighttime now, but I couldn't sleep. The door in the corner actually led to a dining room and sleeping quarters. People pretty much forgot about me after that because of the food and of course, the Larose. [1]
Once everyone was fed and watered, they began to migrate towards the room we had first been in. I was going to follow but Short-Dark-and-Handsome, whose real name is Hiei, stopped me and pointed me towards the sleeping quarters.
Now all I can hear are the low murmurs of voices and this strange whirring noise. Curiosity is driving me nuts. Then I feel the unmistakable urge, the burning in my groin.
Damn, I have to pee like a racehorse.
Luckily for me, the "meeting" just got out. I spotted the familiar cotton ball of red hair and called out,
"Kuwabara, where can I relieve myself?"
"Just go out that door," he pointed to another door. "That'll take you outside. Just go around the left side of the building and there'll be a place you can 'relieve' yourself."
I followed his instructions to a T and as I headed back to my pile of blankets called a bed, I heard the outlandish whirring noise again.
As they say, curiosity kills the sand rat.
I made my way around the building back into the front door. At first glance everything appeared somewhat normal. Well, as normal as a room that has recently held a lot of people can look.
The noise was definitely louder. But it seemed to be the strongest nearest the far left-hand corner. I guessed it was coming from the black lump.
I crossed the room swiftly. When I reached my destination (which did not take long) I realized that the infernal noise was coming from a round, egg-shaped stone next to it. The lump was, in fact, Hiei.
Against all better judgment, I reached out a touched it. I would have to say that that's the stupidest thing that I've ever done. Really.
It flashed brightly, bright enough to most likely wake up Hiei and then dimmed again. But instead of returning to its original state, it was pulsing with light.
…
I was right. It woke up Hiei.
"Uh… I think I broke it…" I whispered meekly, holding it out towards him.
He stared at me.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."
Instead of freaking out and biting my head off like I thought he would, he shouted, "Yusuke! Wake up!"
A few minutes later, Yusuke (as well as half of the people in the building) appeared in the doorway and sleepily asked, "What's going on, Hiei? In case you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the night."
He didn't answer, but pointed to me and the orb.
Are his eyes supposed to be that big?
1 = Chateau Gruaud Larose is, put simply, a kind of wine.