Disclaimer: I am not Yoshihiro Togashi, therefore I do not own Yu Yu
Hakusho or any of its characters.
Pairing: Yusuke x Keiko (Mild Kurama x Keiko)
Rating: PG-13 – due to Violence, Language and Sexual Content.
Summary: Kuwabara and Kurama are the only ones who know that Keiko is pregnant with another man's child; Yusuke has been deceived and led to believe the child is his. But what Yusuke doesn't know, won't hurt him. Right? Author's Notes: All current chapters are being edited / re-written. Feedback makes for faster updates. Incase you're confused, the beginning of this chapter takes place during the Dark Tournament -a great deal of you seemed to be confused about that. Though I hardly understand why.
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Fear Of Uncertainty
:::Chapter I:::
Adultrey
-
-
"What are you afraid of?"
I guess I just never really thought about it before, I always was someone to just jump into something without thinking about the consequences.
I guess as long as I felt I was doing the right thing, I knew that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Fear just wasn't a factor.
-
Roughly seven days into the Dark Tournament, late night had fallen over Hanging Neck Island. Four familiar faces sat around a small, circular table, all facing an elderly woman dressed in colorful robes and beads that dangled from her neck to her waist. A glass orb placed in the center of the table.
Kurama could be spotted silently snickering at the question just asked by the old woman. Being so that the question was directed toward Yusuke, he was about to open his mouth to respond until Kuwabara decided to do it for him.
"Lady, what have you been smoking?" Kuwabara questioned bluntly, "Do you not see all the shit we're dealing with out there?!" he continued, laughing between sentences, "I mean, no offence lady, but what the fuck kind of a question is that?"
Yusuke smirked; nodding his head to Kuwabara's response as if he couldn't have put it any better himself. The woman turned her attention away from Kuwabara and back to Yusuke, attempting to re-fraise her question. "I see what you four boys are doing, everyone does." She grinned, causing her wrinkled face to crease, "You're all here for your own reasons, some by choice.." She turned to Hiei, "-others by force.." she nodded to Yusuke, "But, if it's so obvious that you're fears do not lie within the rage of battle, it boggles this old mind, where do they lie?"
Kuwabara, with a rather dumb-founded look on his mug, exclaimed, "Urameshi ain't afraid of nuthin' old lady!"
"Ind't that right?!" He questioned loudly, forcefully patting Yusuke on the back.
Yusuke's eyes glazed as he turned his head to the elder, looking into her eyes, almost as if drawn to them; the seclusion of the inner workings of his mind felt as though they were being invaded by her piercingly blood-red eyes.
The woman opened her mouth to answer but Yusuke's voice was the one they heard speak up, "He's right." Yusuke smirked, trying to sound sly as he broke their eye contact.
"If being out in that ring and going into all the shit I've dealt with in my life doesn't scare me, there's not much I can think of that will.."
Kuwabara smiled, as he elbowed Kurama with a cheesy grin rested upon his face.
"But there are some things." The woman coaxed.
"Example?" Hiei spoke up.
Neither Yusuke nor the woman answered Hiei's question, silence filled the room once more, and was once again broken by Kuwabara, "I thought we were suppose to be getting our fortunes' told!" He shouted, pointing his index finger towards the elder.
"Now tell us if Urameshi's gonna win his next battle or not!" He bellowed as he pounded his fist onto the table, causing the glass sphere to shake.
"His next battle will be much larger than any fought inside a ring, his most difficult struggle has yet to unfold.." her tone became more solemn and grim with every word she spoke, "Heed my words boy, do not let the blind eye of jealousy deceive what is truly in front of you."
No sooner had she finished her sentence, than no sooner had Kuwabara added his remark to the mix, "What the fuck does that mean?!"
"I don't believe I was talking to you sonny." The woman retorted.
"Whatever, come'on guys, this was a waste of time.." Kuwabara took the lead as the rest stood up and followed his pace out of the tent. Yusuke raised a brow to the woman as he was last to walk outside.
"There goes 20 bucks down the drain!" Kuwabara stormed off, mumbling curses as he wandered farther across the fields of the arena.
"Remind me again, why did I listen to him?" Hiei snorted, turning to Kurama.
Kurama laughed, "You have to admit, it was quite entertaining."
"No, I don't." Hiei retorted, rolling his eyes, "because it wasn't."
Kurama shook his head, smiling as the two walked off toward the resting area. Yusuke was left standing alone in front of the so-called fortune teller's tent; it was as if she and the tent had just appeared out of thin air, because Yusuke and the others certainly would have noticed it if it had been there at the beginning of the tournament. And no one could recall seeing the tent being put up either.
Yusuke just shrugged it off as he glanced around the battle area, then to the audience, as if he were looking for someone in particular. His search was paused however, when he noticed one of the opponents from another team staring straight at him from across the ring. From Yusuke's standpoint, this guy didn't look all that tough, about his height, dark brown hair, not what he'd call muscular but not scrawny either. He looked like an ordinary guy, not much older than Yusuke; but somehow his stare was intimating. It was something about his eyes that seemed to stand out; their lavender color almost sparkled.
Breaking off their staring contest, Yusuke began moving toward their team's rest area hoping to find whoever he was searching for.
"Hey Yusuke." Shizuru greeted as he approached her.
"Hey," Yusuke said as he walked past her and over to Yukina, who was engrossed in a conversation with Kuwabara.
"Yukina," Yusuke let himself in their discussion, "have you seen Keiko around?"
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara bellowed, "We were engrossed in a conversation, do you mind?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes as Yukina giggled, "Not lately, last I saw of her...she and Botan were placing more bets in the building."
"How long ago was that?" Yusuke interrogated her.
"Ummm, I'd say a good three hours ago." She answered, trying her best to be helpful.
"Thanks," Yusuke smiled as he quickly strolled on to the main building.
Kuwabara exhaled, "Now, where were we?"
Yukina giggled at his cheesy grin as they both began walking down the hallways of the team's rest area.
Hiei's eye twitched as his sister's familiar laughter echoed through the halls, "Must she laugh at every word that baka-ningen has to say?!" He spoke out loud, acting as if not to anyone in particular but Kurama knew he was expecting a response.
"Maybe they enjoy each other's company." He suggested optimistically.
"Maybe I should cut off his jaw," Hiei snarled, clenching his katana tightly, "that way there won't be much for her to laugh about." Kurama rolled his eyes to the remark, snatching the sword from Hiei's grasp.
-
Yusuke ran toward the betting polls near the entrance of the building, searching for Keiko in the small crowd of Demons. He quickly came to the conclusion that her and Botan had left because it would have been easy to pin point the two, considering they were the only female humans placing bets. Giving up, he made his way to retire in the hotel room he and Keiko were staying in; opening the room's door to reveal Keiko and Botan sitting on his bed. Yusuke cleared his throat, seeing that they hadn't noticed his presence in the room.
"Oh, hello Yusuke, we were just talking about you." Botan greeted, turning her head to him.
"I'll bet." Replied Yusuke, his tone sounded a bit obnoxious. –"Botan, could I speak to Keiko for a sec?"
Botan smiled and nodded, making room for him on the bed.
"Alone?" Yusuke extended his sentence.
"Oh, okay." Botan agreed, hoping off the bed, "We can just.. finish this conversation later?"
Keiko nodded, "Sure."
Once Botan was out of the room, Yusuke closed and locked the door- then sat down beside Keiko.
"What the hell is going on?" He was quick to begin their talk.
Keiko bit her lip angrily, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you know damn well what I'm talking about." Yusuke persuaded, piercing her eyes with his strong gaze.
"No," she fussed, inching away from him, "I don't."
"Well then, maybe you can tell me what this past week has been about?" he coaxed her angrily. Keiko raised an eye-brow, remaining silent.
"Like the other day in the rest halls, when I looked you straight in the face and started talking to you and you just...walked away?" Yusuke moved back closer on the bed to her, "Or Tuesday night when you never came back to this room, then you show up at 3:00 am and don't answer me when I ask you where you've been?"
Yusuke laughed apathetically, "Fuck, this is like the first time you've said more than two words to me this week." Keiko remained silent, acting unaffected by his words, refusing to look him in the eyes.
"Look, if you've got a problem or something to say to me or tell me about, then you need to come out and say it.." Yusuke attempted to sway her into talking, "Because I don't wanna play these games with you, this is not the fucking time or place!"
"Good to see I finally got your attention." Keiko smiled half-heartedly.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Yusuke snapped.
Keiko rolled her eyes, "Nothing, Yusuke, it's not suppose to mean anything."
"I think it is." Yusuke murmured crossly.
"It means I don't wanna play these games either!" she shouted mockingly, "I don't want our relationship to be one big double-standard, that's not fair."
"How is it a double-standard?!" Yusuke asked rowdily.
"This week you feel like talking to me, this week you wanna come up to me an start a conversation, this week you care that I was out late." Keiko began shouting, "But how about last week or the week before that, when I went up to you and wanted to talk to you, but you were too busy thinking about your battle strategy.. Or when I told you I had something important to tell you and you just acted as if I wasn't even there, like whatever I had to say couldn't possibly be as important as watching Hiei's or Kurama's battle!"
"Keiko, maybe you don't understand this...but this whole tournament, what the team and I are trying to do is important." Yusuke talked-down to Keiko, standing up from his place on the bed.
"I know that!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"No, obviously you don't, if you think I'm some kind of hypercritical ass- hole just because I don't come running every time you call- while I'm trying to make sure our world doesn't get destroyed so that we have somewhere to go home to at the end of this thing!" he yelled, waving his hands in the air.
"I'm not calling you an ass-hole!" Keiko yelled back at him, "And don't talk to me like I'm stupid! I know why you're here- you don't have explain it to me like I'm a child!"
"Well you're acting like one Keiko." Yusuke snorted.
"How am I acting like a child? Just because I'm expressing how I feel to you?"
"How do you feel?" Yusuke asked apathetically.
"I don't feel like I'm your girlfriend! I'm just there to you." She replied.
"That's bullshit!" He screamed, walking closer to her so that he was in her face.
"You don't even tell me that you love me anymore Yusuke!" Keiko cried, "how am I suppose to feel?!"
And for a moment, the room was silent.
"Well, yah know Keiko, if I'm doing such a sucky job as your boyfriend, maybe you should just dump me and find another one," Yusuke's tone calmed down, "Maybe then you'll be happier."
"Why do you always do this?" She asked resentfully, tears forming in her eyes, "Why do you always make it about you?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" He began screaming again,- Keiko pushed him away from her. "Stop yelling at me!" She cried.
"Don't push me!" Yusuke yelled, forcefully shoving her back. He quickly realized he had pushed her a lot harder than intended though, and stared at her apologetically.
"Leave me alone!" Keiko let the tears run down the sides of her face.
"Keiko, I'm sorry." Yusuke tried to act contrite.
"Leave me alone Yusuke!" she cried out, covering her ears and shutting her eyes.
"What do you want from me?!" he murmured, pulling his hair back with his fingers.
"I want you to stop acting like such an ass-hole!" she sobbed, clenching her fists.
"Oh, so I am an ass-hole? Nothing I do is right, is it?"
"Maybe if you'd stop smacking me around like one of your opponents, I wouldn't think you were one!" She defended herself, wiping away her tears.
"I'm not smacking you around!" he bellowed, "You pushed me so I pushed you!"
"Fuck you Yusuke." she whimpered, more tears rolling down her cheeks.
"God!" Yusuke screamed, storming out of the room, knocking down the hotel room's radio as he went. Leaving Keiko to cry by herself, she forced her face down on the bed and sobbed into a pillow. The farther Yusuke walked the less he could hear her cries of misery.
-
As the hours passed by, Yusuke didn't return to their room; Keiko stared at the clock- '1:00 am', it occurred to her that he wasn't coming back. But even if he had, what would she really have to say to him?
Coming to realization with the fact, she pulled herself up from bed, wiping the dried mascara from the sides of her face. As she stood in front of the door, she cracked it open to see if anyone was out there, or if she could hear anyone awake. The halls of the so-called hotel were so quiet she could hear the crickets chirping from outside. She stepped outside the room, closed the door and walked down the dark stairway-
She found herself standing outside near the battle ring, admiring the solitude- she began walking along the sides of ring, but no matter how hard she tried not to think of him- all her thoughts kept turning to Yusuke. As she circled the ring, she made her way closer to a presence that she was unaware of; until she noticed a pair of lavender eyes gleaming at her, they stood out like stars in the night's sky to Keiko. She moved toward the eyes, finding herself face to face with someone she felt she had met before, though his appearance wasn't familiar to her in the least. She studied him for a moment; he resembled Yusuke in some ways, his body type and skin tone.
She didn't know who he was, but she felt safe standing there in front of him for some reason.
"You all right?" He asked, she could sense concern in his tone. But why would he be concerned for her? He didn't even know who she was, much less anything about her.
"I'm okay, thanks." Keiko replied softly.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears." He offered, touching her cheek as he wiped away some of the dried make-up Keiko had missed. Obviously he could tell something was troubling her.
She knew she should have felt strange about her current situation, this total stranger had been showing her more compassion than her own boyfriend had. Yet something made her want to tell this guy everything, everything she was feeling.
"Me and my boyfriend just got into this big fight and.." she paused to sniffle, "I don't know, I've never seen him act that way.. and he's never even came close to hitting me or hurting me."-
"And tonight, he just.. pushed me away from him." Her voice grew weaker as she felt chills travel down her spine from the memory of how it felt to be rejected by Yusuke.
As the stranger listened to everything she had to tell him, he brushed her hair back with his hand in an attempt to comfort her.
Keiko sighed, "Like you really care about my problems though, you probably have things of your own to worry about, I'm sorry if I seem rude for just dumping this on you."
She laughed, "I don't even know your name."
He smiled gently, staring deeply into Keiko's eyes, he placed one hand on the side of her face and leaned in to kiss her petite lips. Keiko's eyes widened as she found herself surrendering to him, she allowed him to caress her lips with his, giving some back to him. Their passionate lip-lock broke off slowly, neither of them rejecting one another.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, silently catching his breath, "You look so beautiful when you're sad, I couldn't help myself."
Keiko couldn't find any words to say, she didn't feel offended or violated by him, she actually felt at peace when his lips touched hers. As if she had kissed him before, though she was certain she'd never seen him before in her life. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Kaemon." She whispered softly, stroking the back of his neck.
But wait- 'How do I know your name?' she wondered to herself, 'What am I doing?'
"Keiko," he smiled, embracing her body in their hug, "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" She questioned in confusion, although she was mystified by what she was allowing to happen- she felt as though she wasn't in control of her own body, her longing for the console this stranger had to offer was too strong.
Placing her hand in his, she followed him into one of the rest halls, as they walked down the hallway she swore she could feel herself floating off the ground.
What's going on?
Once they reached a door at the end of the hall he placed her hand on the knob of the door, "Open it." She opened it- revealing the most gorgeous garden of flowers and plants she had ever seen. But as her eyes studied the garden she realized that they were in another room, it was an indoor garden of sorts. With water- fountains, real grass and dirt on the ground, butterflies and fireflies fluttering around the room, it was like a dream.
Hands still holding each other, she slowly pulled him inside the seemingly magical space with her.
"Where are we?" She asked of him in amazement.
But his own reply was the smile on his lips; they sat down on the soft, green grass- facing each other.
"How do I know your name?" she raised an eye-brow of curiosity, "And how do you know mine?"
But before either one of them had time to think or say another word, they were already laying on the ground, embracing each other, and removing pieces of clothing.
The door to the synthetic garden closed seemingly by it's self, eliminating the chance of anyone accidentally seeing them. But their moans of pleasure could still be heard echoing through out the empty halls.
-
The next morning Keiko awoke in her hotel room bed, the sunlight shining in through the windows. She yawned as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes the memories of what she and that stranger had done last night came flooding back to her.
How did I end up here?
Her eyes widened, thinking about what had taken place last night, she hoped that it had just been a dream; a breathtaking dream or a ghastly nightmare.
She pulled herself from bed and walked into the bathroom, staring in the mirror, you could tell she hadn't gotten much sleep.
"It was just a dream Keiko." She assured her reflection.
She splashed some cold water on her face and finished her other morning bathroom rituals.
Pulling on some jeans and a random shirt from her suitcase she proceeded to leave the room and head down to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Once she reached her destination though, she realized that she wasn't hungry at all; in fact the sight of food made her stomach turn.
"Hey Keiko!" she heard a familiar voice call out to her from across the cafeteria. She made her way over to the table crowded by her friends and sat down, - "Hey guys."
"How late were you out last night?" Shizuru laughed, handing her a piece of fruit.
"Who says I was out late?" Keiko exclaimed in her defense.
Shizuru raised an eye-brow, "I was asking you, I didn't mean to sound nosey or anything." She explained apologetically.
"You usually don't sleep this late." Yukina smiled.
"What time is it?" Keiko asked, unaware she had slept in; it felt early to her.
"It's almost twelve o'clock." Informed Botan.
Keiko's eye widened a bit as she turned her head to the clock on the wall, wondering whether or not she was out late last night.
"No, it was a dream." She whispered to herself, staring down at the fruit she was clenching.
"What was a dream?" Yukina asked curiously.
"Nothing," Keiko sighed, quickly standing up from her seat.
"Where're you going?" asked Shizuru.
"I-I have to talk to Yusuke.." she explained and ran out of the cafeteria.
-
Out in the arena, a battle between two of the teams was taking place.
"How much you wanna bet that big guy's gonna rip that little dude's head off?" Kuwabara snickered, turning his head to Kurama.
But Kurama remained silent, as did Hiei who was sitting right beside him.
"Hello?" Kuwabara waved his hand in front of Kurama's face.
"No," Kurama stated firmly, "size isn't going to determine the victor Kuwabara."
"Huh?" Kuwabara scratched the side of his face, "What'dya mean? That big guy's chasing him around the ring!"
"Kurama means he believes the 'little dude' will win." Hiei snapped, trying to speak down to Kuwabara's level of comprehension.
Kuwabara stared dumb-founded at the battle ring and then back to Kurama, "Uhhh.. you wanna bet money on that?" he laughed.
"Watch," Kurama insisted.
"Okay," Kuwabara shrugged, smiling idiotically.
All three watched as the smaller opponent lashed out a forceful attack of spiritual energy, plummeting through the larger fighter's chest; declaring the smaller fighter the winner, as his opponent lay lifeless on the ground.
Kurama grinned and turned to Kuwabara, "You can't always judge a book by its cover Kuwabara."
"Save your phony metaphors for someone who cares." Kuwabara growled, stomping his feet as he stormed off.
"Wow, a three syllable word, score one for the baka." Hiei snickered cleverly.
Kurama smirked, "Yes, too bad that wasn't a metaphor though."
As Kuwabara continued walking he came across Yusuke standing near one of the far ends of the stadium grounds.
"Urameshi!" he called out, running over to him, "what are you lookin' at?"
Yusuke didn't say anything at first, he just kept staring at the empty dirt corner.
"It's gone." He finally spoke.
"What's gone Urameshi?"
"The tent," Yusuke pointed toward the corner, "it was right there yesterday.. and now it's gone."
Kuwabara laughed, "Yeah, she's probably gone to rip more people off."
"Strange," Yusuke murmured, flinching from a cold chill he felt traveling up his back.
"You okay?" Kuwabara placed his hand on Yusuke's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He was quick to answer and began walking away. As he walked he noticed Keiko stepping out from the rest area, she glanced over to Yusuke as she stood still waiting for him to reach her. But instead, he turned around and walked back toward Kuwabara.
"Come on Kuwabara." Yusuke told him, walking ahead of him.
"Uhh, okay." He agreed and followed, glancing back at Keiko. Yusuke just didn't want to face Keiko, maybe it was because he was ashamed of his behavior. Maybe he was afraid of what she might think of him now, and that look she would have in her eyes.
He couldn't deal with that look right now.
-
Weeks passed by and the Dark Tournament came to end, Yusuke and Keiko hadn't spoken more than two words to each other throughout the remainder of it.
After all their long battles and sacrifices, finally it was time for them to return home. Thanks to Koenma's persuading abilities, upon returning to the Ningenkai the team decided to spend the night at Kuwabara and Shizuru's house for a sort of victory party.
"Whoooo! Turn that music up!" Kuwabara shouted, slurring his words as he danced around the room.
Yusuke and Botan grinned as they watched the intoxicated Kuwabara, "So much for drinking responsibly." Yusuke laughed.
"I know, right?" Botan agreed, giggling, "All I saw him drink was punch though."
Koenma could be spotted in the far corner of the room, spiking the punch and taking a shot straight from his bottle of whiskey.
"So Yukina, I was thinking," Kuwabara slurred, placing an arm around her shoulder, "how about you and me ditch these losers and go up to my room for a while."
"Kurama," Hiei growled.
"Just let them be Hiei, your sister is smarter than to go upstairs with him." Kurama assured him.
Hiei and Kurama watched as Kuwabara began leading Yukina up the stair case, "Kazuma!" she giggled.
"Or perhaps not." Kurama corrected himself.
Hiei grinded his teeth, he looked as if he was ready to attack Kuwabara. Kurama placed his hand on Hiei's shoulder, "I'll handle it, just.. stay calm." Kurama laughed half-heartedly. Hiei growled in response.
Kurama approached the stair case, "Yukina, why don't you stay down here?"
"Umm, okay, but why?" Yukina inquired innocently.
Kurama smirked, "Oh, well, Hiei.." he began, "wants to show you something." Kurama encouraged.
"Alright then." She smiled, stepping past the-about-to-pass-out Kuwabara.
Kurama leaded Yukina to her elder brother, "What do I want to show her?" Hiei whispered to Kurama irritably.
"You're welcome." Kurama smiled and walked away.
-
Keiko had immediately locked herself in the bathroom as soon as the group reached Shizuru's house, she had yet to come out.
"Oh God," she panted as she leaned over the toilet she had been vomiting and coughing into.
Moving away from the toilet, she backed herself into a corner, resting her head against the wall, breathing heavily. Holding her stomach, she began wondering what could have made her feel so sick, maybe it was something she ate that just didn't sit well. But she'd been feeling ill for days now; she'd been late for almost two months, maybe it was finally that time of the month for her – but she never got sick around then, not even a stomach cramp.
It could be the stomach flu, but nothing was going around and no one else was showing signs of feeling sick. And whenever she felt sick or nauseas she wouldn't want to eat anything for days at a time, oddly though- she found her appetite increasing.
Suddenly an unusual thought came to mind, could she be pregnant?
During the Dark Tournament, before their dispute- Yusuke and Keiko had become closer and had on more than one occasion been intimate. But even if she were, it had been at least three months since anything of the sort between the two of them, and she wasn't showing in the least.
And then an alarming thought struck her, her mind flooded back to memories of the night her and Yusuke had gotten into their big argument.
That dream.
What if it wasn't really a dream?
All these questions running through her head, it was making her feel even more nauseas; she had to find out.
She had to know.
She slowly opened the door and quietly walked out of the bedroom. Speeding past everyone partying and enjoying themselves, she ran out the door- making her way to the local drug store; she felt a raindrop touch the top of her head.
Before she had time to think, it was pouring rain and she began running as fast as she could in her current condition. Once there, she ran inside and picked out numerous pregnancy tests. No sooner had she paid for them, then no sooner was she out the door running back to the house.
She let herself back inside and hurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
Hastily ripping open the boxes, she began following the directions to each test.
In the end, they all gave her the same result...
She was pregnant.
-
Remember, feedback makes for faster updates. (Chapters are under construction)
Pairing: Yusuke x Keiko (Mild Kurama x Keiko)
Rating: PG-13 – due to Violence, Language and Sexual Content.
Summary: Kuwabara and Kurama are the only ones who know that Keiko is pregnant with another man's child; Yusuke has been deceived and led to believe the child is his. But what Yusuke doesn't know, won't hurt him. Right? Author's Notes: All current chapters are being edited / re-written. Feedback makes for faster updates. Incase you're confused, the beginning of this chapter takes place during the Dark Tournament -a great deal of you seemed to be confused about that. Though I hardly understand why.
-
Fear Of Uncertainty
:::Chapter I:::
Adultrey
-
-
"What are you afraid of?"
I guess I just never really thought about it before, I always was someone to just jump into something without thinking about the consequences.
I guess as long as I felt I was doing the right thing, I knew that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Fear just wasn't a factor.
-
Roughly seven days into the Dark Tournament, late night had fallen over Hanging Neck Island. Four familiar faces sat around a small, circular table, all facing an elderly woman dressed in colorful robes and beads that dangled from her neck to her waist. A glass orb placed in the center of the table.
Kurama could be spotted silently snickering at the question just asked by the old woman. Being so that the question was directed toward Yusuke, he was about to open his mouth to respond until Kuwabara decided to do it for him.
"Lady, what have you been smoking?" Kuwabara questioned bluntly, "Do you not see all the shit we're dealing with out there?!" he continued, laughing between sentences, "I mean, no offence lady, but what the fuck kind of a question is that?"
Yusuke smirked; nodding his head to Kuwabara's response as if he couldn't have put it any better himself. The woman turned her attention away from Kuwabara and back to Yusuke, attempting to re-fraise her question. "I see what you four boys are doing, everyone does." She grinned, causing her wrinkled face to crease, "You're all here for your own reasons, some by choice.." She turned to Hiei, "-others by force.." she nodded to Yusuke, "But, if it's so obvious that you're fears do not lie within the rage of battle, it boggles this old mind, where do they lie?"
Kuwabara, with a rather dumb-founded look on his mug, exclaimed, "Urameshi ain't afraid of nuthin' old lady!"
"Ind't that right?!" He questioned loudly, forcefully patting Yusuke on the back.
Yusuke's eyes glazed as he turned his head to the elder, looking into her eyes, almost as if drawn to them; the seclusion of the inner workings of his mind felt as though they were being invaded by her piercingly blood-red eyes.
The woman opened her mouth to answer but Yusuke's voice was the one they heard speak up, "He's right." Yusuke smirked, trying to sound sly as he broke their eye contact.
"If being out in that ring and going into all the shit I've dealt with in my life doesn't scare me, there's not much I can think of that will.."
Kuwabara smiled, as he elbowed Kurama with a cheesy grin rested upon his face.
"But there are some things." The woman coaxed.
"Example?" Hiei spoke up.
Neither Yusuke nor the woman answered Hiei's question, silence filled the room once more, and was once again broken by Kuwabara, "I thought we were suppose to be getting our fortunes' told!" He shouted, pointing his index finger towards the elder.
"Now tell us if Urameshi's gonna win his next battle or not!" He bellowed as he pounded his fist onto the table, causing the glass sphere to shake.
"His next battle will be much larger than any fought inside a ring, his most difficult struggle has yet to unfold.." her tone became more solemn and grim with every word she spoke, "Heed my words boy, do not let the blind eye of jealousy deceive what is truly in front of you."
No sooner had she finished her sentence, than no sooner had Kuwabara added his remark to the mix, "What the fuck does that mean?!"
"I don't believe I was talking to you sonny." The woman retorted.
"Whatever, come'on guys, this was a waste of time.." Kuwabara took the lead as the rest stood up and followed his pace out of the tent. Yusuke raised a brow to the woman as he was last to walk outside.
"There goes 20 bucks down the drain!" Kuwabara stormed off, mumbling curses as he wandered farther across the fields of the arena.
"Remind me again, why did I listen to him?" Hiei snorted, turning to Kurama.
Kurama laughed, "You have to admit, it was quite entertaining."
"No, I don't." Hiei retorted, rolling his eyes, "because it wasn't."
Kurama shook his head, smiling as the two walked off toward the resting area. Yusuke was left standing alone in front of the so-called fortune teller's tent; it was as if she and the tent had just appeared out of thin air, because Yusuke and the others certainly would have noticed it if it had been there at the beginning of the tournament. And no one could recall seeing the tent being put up either.
Yusuke just shrugged it off as he glanced around the battle area, then to the audience, as if he were looking for someone in particular. His search was paused however, when he noticed one of the opponents from another team staring straight at him from across the ring. From Yusuke's standpoint, this guy didn't look all that tough, about his height, dark brown hair, not what he'd call muscular but not scrawny either. He looked like an ordinary guy, not much older than Yusuke; but somehow his stare was intimating. It was something about his eyes that seemed to stand out; their lavender color almost sparkled.
Breaking off their staring contest, Yusuke began moving toward their team's rest area hoping to find whoever he was searching for.
"Hey Yusuke." Shizuru greeted as he approached her.
"Hey," Yusuke said as he walked past her and over to Yukina, who was engrossed in a conversation with Kuwabara.
"Yukina," Yusuke let himself in their discussion, "have you seen Keiko around?"
"Urameshi!" Kuwabara bellowed, "We were engrossed in a conversation, do you mind?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes as Yukina giggled, "Not lately, last I saw of her...she and Botan were placing more bets in the building."
"How long ago was that?" Yusuke interrogated her.
"Ummm, I'd say a good three hours ago." She answered, trying her best to be helpful.
"Thanks," Yusuke smiled as he quickly strolled on to the main building.
Kuwabara exhaled, "Now, where were we?"
Yukina giggled at his cheesy grin as they both began walking down the hallways of the team's rest area.
Hiei's eye twitched as his sister's familiar laughter echoed through the halls, "Must she laugh at every word that baka-ningen has to say?!" He spoke out loud, acting as if not to anyone in particular but Kurama knew he was expecting a response.
"Maybe they enjoy each other's company." He suggested optimistically.
"Maybe I should cut off his jaw," Hiei snarled, clenching his katana tightly, "that way there won't be much for her to laugh about." Kurama rolled his eyes to the remark, snatching the sword from Hiei's grasp.
-
Yusuke ran toward the betting polls near the entrance of the building, searching for Keiko in the small crowd of Demons. He quickly came to the conclusion that her and Botan had left because it would have been easy to pin point the two, considering they were the only female humans placing bets. Giving up, he made his way to retire in the hotel room he and Keiko were staying in; opening the room's door to reveal Keiko and Botan sitting on his bed. Yusuke cleared his throat, seeing that they hadn't noticed his presence in the room.
"Oh, hello Yusuke, we were just talking about you." Botan greeted, turning her head to him.
"I'll bet." Replied Yusuke, his tone sounded a bit obnoxious. –"Botan, could I speak to Keiko for a sec?"
Botan smiled and nodded, making room for him on the bed.
"Alone?" Yusuke extended his sentence.
"Oh, okay." Botan agreed, hoping off the bed, "We can just.. finish this conversation later?"
Keiko nodded, "Sure."
Once Botan was out of the room, Yusuke closed and locked the door- then sat down beside Keiko.
"What the hell is going on?" He was quick to begin their talk.
Keiko bit her lip angrily, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you know damn well what I'm talking about." Yusuke persuaded, piercing her eyes with his strong gaze.
"No," she fussed, inching away from him, "I don't."
"Well then, maybe you can tell me what this past week has been about?" he coaxed her angrily. Keiko raised an eye-brow, remaining silent.
"Like the other day in the rest halls, when I looked you straight in the face and started talking to you and you just...walked away?" Yusuke moved back closer on the bed to her, "Or Tuesday night when you never came back to this room, then you show up at 3:00 am and don't answer me when I ask you where you've been?"
Yusuke laughed apathetically, "Fuck, this is like the first time you've said more than two words to me this week." Keiko remained silent, acting unaffected by his words, refusing to look him in the eyes.
"Look, if you've got a problem or something to say to me or tell me about, then you need to come out and say it.." Yusuke attempted to sway her into talking, "Because I don't wanna play these games with you, this is not the fucking time or place!"
"Good to see I finally got your attention." Keiko smiled half-heartedly.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Yusuke snapped.
Keiko rolled her eyes, "Nothing, Yusuke, it's not suppose to mean anything."
"I think it is." Yusuke murmured crossly.
"It means I don't wanna play these games either!" she shouted mockingly, "I don't want our relationship to be one big double-standard, that's not fair."
"How is it a double-standard?!" Yusuke asked rowdily.
"This week you feel like talking to me, this week you wanna come up to me an start a conversation, this week you care that I was out late." Keiko began shouting, "But how about last week or the week before that, when I went up to you and wanted to talk to you, but you were too busy thinking about your battle strategy.. Or when I told you I had something important to tell you and you just acted as if I wasn't even there, like whatever I had to say couldn't possibly be as important as watching Hiei's or Kurama's battle!"
"Keiko, maybe you don't understand this...but this whole tournament, what the team and I are trying to do is important." Yusuke talked-down to Keiko, standing up from his place on the bed.
"I know that!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"No, obviously you don't, if you think I'm some kind of hypercritical ass- hole just because I don't come running every time you call- while I'm trying to make sure our world doesn't get destroyed so that we have somewhere to go home to at the end of this thing!" he yelled, waving his hands in the air.
"I'm not calling you an ass-hole!" Keiko yelled back at him, "And don't talk to me like I'm stupid! I know why you're here- you don't have explain it to me like I'm a child!"
"Well you're acting like one Keiko." Yusuke snorted.
"How am I acting like a child? Just because I'm expressing how I feel to you?"
"How do you feel?" Yusuke asked apathetically.
"I don't feel like I'm your girlfriend! I'm just there to you." She replied.
"That's bullshit!" He screamed, walking closer to her so that he was in her face.
"You don't even tell me that you love me anymore Yusuke!" Keiko cried, "how am I suppose to feel?!"
And for a moment, the room was silent.
"Well, yah know Keiko, if I'm doing such a sucky job as your boyfriend, maybe you should just dump me and find another one," Yusuke's tone calmed down, "Maybe then you'll be happier."
"Why do you always do this?" She asked resentfully, tears forming in her eyes, "Why do you always make it about you?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" He began screaming again,- Keiko pushed him away from her. "Stop yelling at me!" She cried.
"Don't push me!" Yusuke yelled, forcefully shoving her back. He quickly realized he had pushed her a lot harder than intended though, and stared at her apologetically.
"Leave me alone!" Keiko let the tears run down the sides of her face.
"Keiko, I'm sorry." Yusuke tried to act contrite.
"Leave me alone Yusuke!" she cried out, covering her ears and shutting her eyes.
"What do you want from me?!" he murmured, pulling his hair back with his fingers.
"I want you to stop acting like such an ass-hole!" she sobbed, clenching her fists.
"Oh, so I am an ass-hole? Nothing I do is right, is it?"
"Maybe if you'd stop smacking me around like one of your opponents, I wouldn't think you were one!" She defended herself, wiping away her tears.
"I'm not smacking you around!" he bellowed, "You pushed me so I pushed you!"
"Fuck you Yusuke." she whimpered, more tears rolling down her cheeks.
"God!" Yusuke screamed, storming out of the room, knocking down the hotel room's radio as he went. Leaving Keiko to cry by herself, she forced her face down on the bed and sobbed into a pillow. The farther Yusuke walked the less he could hear her cries of misery.
-
As the hours passed by, Yusuke didn't return to their room; Keiko stared at the clock- '1:00 am', it occurred to her that he wasn't coming back. But even if he had, what would she really have to say to him?
Coming to realization with the fact, she pulled herself up from bed, wiping the dried mascara from the sides of her face. As she stood in front of the door, she cracked it open to see if anyone was out there, or if she could hear anyone awake. The halls of the so-called hotel were so quiet she could hear the crickets chirping from outside. She stepped outside the room, closed the door and walked down the dark stairway-
She found herself standing outside near the battle ring, admiring the solitude- she began walking along the sides of ring, but no matter how hard she tried not to think of him- all her thoughts kept turning to Yusuke. As she circled the ring, she made her way closer to a presence that she was unaware of; until she noticed a pair of lavender eyes gleaming at her, they stood out like stars in the night's sky to Keiko. She moved toward the eyes, finding herself face to face with someone she felt she had met before, though his appearance wasn't familiar to her in the least. She studied him for a moment; he resembled Yusuke in some ways, his body type and skin tone.
She didn't know who he was, but she felt safe standing there in front of him for some reason.
"You all right?" He asked, she could sense concern in his tone. But why would he be concerned for her? He didn't even know who she was, much less anything about her.
"I'm okay, thanks." Keiko replied softly.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears." He offered, touching her cheek as he wiped away some of the dried make-up Keiko had missed. Obviously he could tell something was troubling her.
She knew she should have felt strange about her current situation, this total stranger had been showing her more compassion than her own boyfriend had. Yet something made her want to tell this guy everything, everything she was feeling.
"Me and my boyfriend just got into this big fight and.." she paused to sniffle, "I don't know, I've never seen him act that way.. and he's never even came close to hitting me or hurting me."-
"And tonight, he just.. pushed me away from him." Her voice grew weaker as she felt chills travel down her spine from the memory of how it felt to be rejected by Yusuke.
As the stranger listened to everything she had to tell him, he brushed her hair back with his hand in an attempt to comfort her.
Keiko sighed, "Like you really care about my problems though, you probably have things of your own to worry about, I'm sorry if I seem rude for just dumping this on you."
She laughed, "I don't even know your name."
He smiled gently, staring deeply into Keiko's eyes, he placed one hand on the side of her face and leaned in to kiss her petite lips. Keiko's eyes widened as she found herself surrendering to him, she allowed him to caress her lips with his, giving some back to him. Their passionate lip-lock broke off slowly, neither of them rejecting one another.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, silently catching his breath, "You look so beautiful when you're sad, I couldn't help myself."
Keiko couldn't find any words to say, she didn't feel offended or violated by him, she actually felt at peace when his lips touched hers. As if she had kissed him before, though she was certain she'd never seen him before in her life. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Kaemon." She whispered softly, stroking the back of his neck.
But wait- 'How do I know your name?' she wondered to herself, 'What am I doing?'
"Keiko," he smiled, embracing her body in their hug, "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" She questioned in confusion, although she was mystified by what she was allowing to happen- she felt as though she wasn't in control of her own body, her longing for the console this stranger had to offer was too strong.
Placing her hand in his, she followed him into one of the rest halls, as they walked down the hallway she swore she could feel herself floating off the ground.
What's going on?
Once they reached a door at the end of the hall he placed her hand on the knob of the door, "Open it." She opened it- revealing the most gorgeous garden of flowers and plants she had ever seen. But as her eyes studied the garden she realized that they were in another room, it was an indoor garden of sorts. With water- fountains, real grass and dirt on the ground, butterflies and fireflies fluttering around the room, it was like a dream.
Hands still holding each other, she slowly pulled him inside the seemingly magical space with her.
"Where are we?" She asked of him in amazement.
But his own reply was the smile on his lips; they sat down on the soft, green grass- facing each other.
"How do I know your name?" she raised an eye-brow of curiosity, "And how do you know mine?"
But before either one of them had time to think or say another word, they were already laying on the ground, embracing each other, and removing pieces of clothing.
The door to the synthetic garden closed seemingly by it's self, eliminating the chance of anyone accidentally seeing them. But their moans of pleasure could still be heard echoing through out the empty halls.
-
The next morning Keiko awoke in her hotel room bed, the sunlight shining in through the windows. She yawned as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes the memories of what she and that stranger had done last night came flooding back to her.
How did I end up here?
Her eyes widened, thinking about what had taken place last night, she hoped that it had just been a dream; a breathtaking dream or a ghastly nightmare.
She pulled herself from bed and walked into the bathroom, staring in the mirror, you could tell she hadn't gotten much sleep.
"It was just a dream Keiko." She assured her reflection.
She splashed some cold water on her face and finished her other morning bathroom rituals.
Pulling on some jeans and a random shirt from her suitcase she proceeded to leave the room and head down to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Once she reached her destination though, she realized that she wasn't hungry at all; in fact the sight of food made her stomach turn.
"Hey Keiko!" she heard a familiar voice call out to her from across the cafeteria. She made her way over to the table crowded by her friends and sat down, - "Hey guys."
"How late were you out last night?" Shizuru laughed, handing her a piece of fruit.
"Who says I was out late?" Keiko exclaimed in her defense.
Shizuru raised an eye-brow, "I was asking you, I didn't mean to sound nosey or anything." She explained apologetically.
"You usually don't sleep this late." Yukina smiled.
"What time is it?" Keiko asked, unaware she had slept in; it felt early to her.
"It's almost twelve o'clock." Informed Botan.
Keiko's eye widened a bit as she turned her head to the clock on the wall, wondering whether or not she was out late last night.
"No, it was a dream." She whispered to herself, staring down at the fruit she was clenching.
"What was a dream?" Yukina asked curiously.
"Nothing," Keiko sighed, quickly standing up from her seat.
"Where're you going?" asked Shizuru.
"I-I have to talk to Yusuke.." she explained and ran out of the cafeteria.
-
Out in the arena, a battle between two of the teams was taking place.
"How much you wanna bet that big guy's gonna rip that little dude's head off?" Kuwabara snickered, turning his head to Kurama.
But Kurama remained silent, as did Hiei who was sitting right beside him.
"Hello?" Kuwabara waved his hand in front of Kurama's face.
"No," Kurama stated firmly, "size isn't going to determine the victor Kuwabara."
"Huh?" Kuwabara scratched the side of his face, "What'dya mean? That big guy's chasing him around the ring!"
"Kurama means he believes the 'little dude' will win." Hiei snapped, trying to speak down to Kuwabara's level of comprehension.
Kuwabara stared dumb-founded at the battle ring and then back to Kurama, "Uhhh.. you wanna bet money on that?" he laughed.
"Watch," Kurama insisted.
"Okay," Kuwabara shrugged, smiling idiotically.
All three watched as the smaller opponent lashed out a forceful attack of spiritual energy, plummeting through the larger fighter's chest; declaring the smaller fighter the winner, as his opponent lay lifeless on the ground.
Kurama grinned and turned to Kuwabara, "You can't always judge a book by its cover Kuwabara."
"Save your phony metaphors for someone who cares." Kuwabara growled, stomping his feet as he stormed off.
"Wow, a three syllable word, score one for the baka." Hiei snickered cleverly.
Kurama smirked, "Yes, too bad that wasn't a metaphor though."
As Kuwabara continued walking he came across Yusuke standing near one of the far ends of the stadium grounds.
"Urameshi!" he called out, running over to him, "what are you lookin' at?"
Yusuke didn't say anything at first, he just kept staring at the empty dirt corner.
"It's gone." He finally spoke.
"What's gone Urameshi?"
"The tent," Yusuke pointed toward the corner, "it was right there yesterday.. and now it's gone."
Kuwabara laughed, "Yeah, she's probably gone to rip more people off."
"Strange," Yusuke murmured, flinching from a cold chill he felt traveling up his back.
"You okay?" Kuwabara placed his hand on Yusuke's shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He was quick to answer and began walking away. As he walked he noticed Keiko stepping out from the rest area, she glanced over to Yusuke as she stood still waiting for him to reach her. But instead, he turned around and walked back toward Kuwabara.
"Come on Kuwabara." Yusuke told him, walking ahead of him.
"Uhh, okay." He agreed and followed, glancing back at Keiko. Yusuke just didn't want to face Keiko, maybe it was because he was ashamed of his behavior. Maybe he was afraid of what she might think of him now, and that look she would have in her eyes.
He couldn't deal with that look right now.
-
Weeks passed by and the Dark Tournament came to end, Yusuke and Keiko hadn't spoken more than two words to each other throughout the remainder of it.
After all their long battles and sacrifices, finally it was time for them to return home. Thanks to Koenma's persuading abilities, upon returning to the Ningenkai the team decided to spend the night at Kuwabara and Shizuru's house for a sort of victory party.
"Whoooo! Turn that music up!" Kuwabara shouted, slurring his words as he danced around the room.
Yusuke and Botan grinned as they watched the intoxicated Kuwabara, "So much for drinking responsibly." Yusuke laughed.
"I know, right?" Botan agreed, giggling, "All I saw him drink was punch though."
Koenma could be spotted in the far corner of the room, spiking the punch and taking a shot straight from his bottle of whiskey.
"So Yukina, I was thinking," Kuwabara slurred, placing an arm around her shoulder, "how about you and me ditch these losers and go up to my room for a while."
"Kurama," Hiei growled.
"Just let them be Hiei, your sister is smarter than to go upstairs with him." Kurama assured him.
Hiei and Kurama watched as Kuwabara began leading Yukina up the stair case, "Kazuma!" she giggled.
"Or perhaps not." Kurama corrected himself.
Hiei grinded his teeth, he looked as if he was ready to attack Kuwabara. Kurama placed his hand on Hiei's shoulder, "I'll handle it, just.. stay calm." Kurama laughed half-heartedly. Hiei growled in response.
Kurama approached the stair case, "Yukina, why don't you stay down here?"
"Umm, okay, but why?" Yukina inquired innocently.
Kurama smirked, "Oh, well, Hiei.." he began, "wants to show you something." Kurama encouraged.
"Alright then." She smiled, stepping past the-about-to-pass-out Kuwabara.
Kurama leaded Yukina to her elder brother, "What do I want to show her?" Hiei whispered to Kurama irritably.
"You're welcome." Kurama smiled and walked away.
-
Keiko had immediately locked herself in the bathroom as soon as the group reached Shizuru's house, she had yet to come out.
"Oh God," she panted as she leaned over the toilet she had been vomiting and coughing into.
Moving away from the toilet, she backed herself into a corner, resting her head against the wall, breathing heavily. Holding her stomach, she began wondering what could have made her feel so sick, maybe it was something she ate that just didn't sit well. But she'd been feeling ill for days now; she'd been late for almost two months, maybe it was finally that time of the month for her – but she never got sick around then, not even a stomach cramp.
It could be the stomach flu, but nothing was going around and no one else was showing signs of feeling sick. And whenever she felt sick or nauseas she wouldn't want to eat anything for days at a time, oddly though- she found her appetite increasing.
Suddenly an unusual thought came to mind, could she be pregnant?
During the Dark Tournament, before their dispute- Yusuke and Keiko had become closer and had on more than one occasion been intimate. But even if she were, it had been at least three months since anything of the sort between the two of them, and she wasn't showing in the least.
And then an alarming thought struck her, her mind flooded back to memories of the night her and Yusuke had gotten into their big argument.
That dream.
What if it wasn't really a dream?
All these questions running through her head, it was making her feel even more nauseas; she had to find out.
She had to know.
She slowly opened the door and quietly walked out of the bedroom. Speeding past everyone partying and enjoying themselves, she ran out the door- making her way to the local drug store; she felt a raindrop touch the top of her head.
Before she had time to think, it was pouring rain and she began running as fast as she could in her current condition. Once there, she ran inside and picked out numerous pregnancy tests. No sooner had she paid for them, then no sooner was she out the door running back to the house.
She let herself back inside and hurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
Hastily ripping open the boxes, she began following the directions to each test.
In the end, they all gave her the same result...
She was pregnant.
-
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