Morbid Identity Crisis
By Shizuru of the Darkness Flame
I'm back with the second chapter! Yay! A bit of a long wait, but I had SOOOO much homework... Teachers just love to give us a HUGE load homework at the end of the year. It's so annoying! Argh! Anyways... Thanks to the people who reviewed! Not many, but I'm still happy. I didn't think this would get even ONE review...
Oh, and by the way, this story takes place after the dark tournament (didn't want to make it any later, since I haven't watched the later episodes in quite a while). Thought I should mention that.
Well, on with the story!
Kurama woke up, the taunting voices still echoing in his head. His body and sheets were damp, and he was feeling slightly dizzy.
"A dream... It was all a dream..." Kurama tried to calm himself, but it wasn't working. He had always believed that dreams had a certain meaning... Why would this one be any different? Nonsense, he thought. It's stress, that's all. Kuronue is dead. He has been dead for years now, and he isn't coming back.
What... You're happy about it now? The nagging voice in the deepest, darkest chambers of his head said. I thought you said you regret leaving him behind to this day... Tsk tsk, you're lying again...
Kurama shook his head from side to side quickly, trying to rid himself of the voice. No... No... No... Don't listen... Don't listen... Don't listen...
When the voice came back no more, he opened his eyes and looked out the window. In the horizon, a little bright line formed. Dawn was approaching. Kurama sighed. I'd better get dressed... He thought, as he climbed out of bed and pulled a T-shirt and a pair of jeans out of his closet.
==================================
"WHAT?!" a loud voice could be heard coming from a small apartment in a rather shabby-looking building. "YOU'RE KIDDING!!"
"No, I'm afraid not, Yusuke." replied a cheery blue haired ferry girl by the name of Botan, although at the moment she didn't seem very cheery. "This one's a very important task... Lord Enma will be furious with Koenma if it isn't completed."
"Yea, yea, whatever..." Yusuke said, obviously annoyed. "But why the hell does it have to be on my three day weekend?!"
Botan shrugged, which made Yusuke even angrier. "Yeesh, it must be your job or something to make my life miserable..." he muttered to himself bitterly.
"Aww, c'mon Urameshi! It's another chance for us to be heroes!" Kuwabara said, and laughed oafishly. (A/N: I don't hate Kuwabara or anything... He just has an oafish laugh. ::sweatdrop::).
Botan frowned a little, while Yusuke muttered something that sounded like "heroes my ass". "You shouldn't be over-confident, Kuwabara... You two have a pretty tough mission ahead of you."
"We've already beat the Toguro brothers! What could be tougher than that?!" Kuwabara exclaimed self-assuredly.
"Oh, believe me, there are quite a few demons that could beat him..." said Botan nervously. "Quite a few indeed..."
At the thought of demons that were even stronger than the Toguro brothers, Kuwabara gulped, and even Yusuke looked worried. "So... What do we have to do?" he asked.
"Just be at Genkai's temple at 9:30 PM sharp. Oh, and tell Kurama and Hiei to come too."
==================================
"Good morning, Suuichi!"
"Good morning mother..." 'Suuichi' replied to his mother's cheery voice, himself a little weary.
Shiori flipped the pancake she was making. "You sound tired... Is something wrong, dear?"
"No, no, not at all..."
Pfft. Lying. Lying again. And you say you've changed...
I... I have... It's just a small white lie... I simply don't want to worry her...
Shiori flipped the pancake over again, took it off the pan, put it on a plate, and set it on the table.
Just a little white lie, you say? But where, pray tell, will it go from there? More thieving, I suppose?
Thieving? You... You know I'd never go back to thieving...
Hah! I laugh at you're ignorance. Do you really think the Youko in you will lay dormant until your pathetic human life ends? He's bound to take over sooner or later...
Never! I have control over myself, you know. I don't succumb to urges and desires that easily.
"Would you like some maple syrup with that?"
"Yes please..."
You have control over you're human side maybe, but you remember what demon urges are like, don't you?
Yes...
And do you truly believe that the human in you will have the power to resist them...?
It might...
It won't.
It's possible...
It isn't.
I guess not...
Kurama blinked. He didn't just think that, did he? No. He couldn't have given in. Of course it's possible for the human in him to resist Youko's urges. Very possible, in fact. Humans can be very strong willed... Yusuke and Kuwabara have proven that long ago. And anyways, the human part of me is much more in control than the Youko part. Actually, who says I even have a Youko part? That part probably left long ago. Otherwise, I'd be in Makai.
...Right?
Shiori looked into her son's emerald eyes as he ate his breakfast slowly. He seems... Troubled, She thought. I wonder why he isn't telling me what's wrong? Oh well, it must be something very small... Suuichi has always been such a good boy. Always honest, always responsible. She smiled to herself, unaware of the battle Kurama was having within his mind.
==================================
A little boy, probably only three years old, rode his tricycle down the path of a green, well-kept park with many tall trees scattered around it. Hiei happened to be resting on a particularly tall oak tree that stood by the path, its trunk high and wide and its branches thick and proud. Ningenkai... It's so dull. He thought to himself, bored out of his mind. Really... Why did I bother staying here anyways? Stupid fox... After the tournament, when the members of the Reikai Tantei were heading home, Kurama had convinced Hiei to stay in the human world for a little bit. Why? Kurama had never told him, but Hiei assumed he just wanted him around. He continued to lazily watch the boy, who, unfortunately for him, ran over a large rock, which caused him to fall of his tricycle and bump his helmet-less head. The boy cried, and his mother ran to him and picked him up, brushing the dust off his curly jet black hair. Stupid human infant... Hiei thought. He took another look at the mother, who was now gently quieting the child. Hmph. I don't see why Kurama needs someone like her around. He can take perfect care of himself. But then again, it isn't as if I know what it's like...
Hiei jumped off the tree, and landed swiftly on the ground below. Dashing through the park, only seen as a blackish blur, he decided to go to Kurama's house. He said something about a three day weekend, and I have nothing better to do in this stupid place... He thought to himself a little sourly. I don't see what that fox sees in it... Damned humans have completely corrupted him...
Deep down, though, Hiei knew he liked Kurama better now that he had become more human. As Youko, Kurama never truly cared about anyone. And although Hiei hated to admit it, it felt good to be cared for...
==================================
Kurama was trying once more (and failing miserably) to focus on his Algebra homework, when a knock on the door was heard. Since Shiori was out buying groceries, Kurama headed downstairs and opened the door himself. At the entrance stood a very annoyed teenage boy with black, slightly spiky hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a green school uniform.
"Yusuke... I didn't expect to see you here." Kurama said, letting him in. "Another mission, I suppose?"
Yusuke seemed to still be a little angry from his conversation with Botan. "Yep... I swear, if this whole mission-on-a-three-day-weekend deal happens one more time, I'm gonna pound that little toddler until his own dad can't recognize him!"
Kurama couldn't help but chuckle a little at the statement. After offering Yusuke to have a seat in the living room, he asked "So, what is it this time?"
"To be honest with ya, I have no idea." said Yusuke, anger leaving his voice and slight confusion coming in instead. "Botan told me to tell you and Hiei to be at Genkai's temple at 9:30 PM... Do you mind telling Hiei for me?"
Kurama nodded, confirming that he would. Sounds important... And important usually means hard. "Did Botan give you any more information?" he questioned.
"Nope." said Yusuke. "That's all she said... Sounds suspicious to me."
"Yes, it does, slightly..." Kurama agreed. "I'm assuming Kuwabara will be accompanying us as well?"
"Yea, as usual. No idea why he does though, it's not like he has to... Well, I gotta go meet Keiko. She's making me go shopping with her..." the young teen grunted in annoyance. "See ya later!" he said, running out the front door. Kurama waved at him as he headed towards the shopping center. He seems so carefree... Kurama idly thought to himself.
Shiori entered the room. "Who was that boy in green?" she questioned Kurama.
"Oh, that was just Yusuke, a friend of mine... He just dropped by to tell me to meet him at 9:30 somewhere."
"Where would that be?"
"Just his house... For homework." he added hastily, before Shiori could ask.
"That late?" she seemed confused.
"Yes... He's a bit busy today, and it's the earliest he can... We're doing a project for Science together."
"Oh, OK." said Shiori, smiling a little. Still on top of his studies, I see... "Do you mind helping me make dinner?"
"Not at all..." Kurama said, getting off the sofa and heading to the kitchen, feeling a bit on the guilty side.
==================================
After helping out a little with dinner, Kurama walked up to his room and took out a novel. He figured he'd probably have a hard time focusing on his homework, so he decided to read. Taking out the bookmark and opening his book, he continued from where he had last left off.
(A/N: note that the following is from a real book, a book called The Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel. Everything from that book will be between (())'s)
((Sunlight falling through the stained-glass windows cast colors over the caskets and flowers. The scene should have been pretty. It wasn't. It looked staged, as if some celestial lighting director had rigged the whole thing. Illusion... It was all illusion. Even the organ music sounded forlorn and desolate.))
Illusion... Now, what does that remind you of? Hmm? A pestering voice in the back of Kurama's head teased. The Girl Death Left Behind, huh? Leaving death behind... Sounds a bit familiar as well.
Kurama closed his eyes tight. Please... Go away...
Stop trying to push the truth away. You know you cheated death... Instead of leaving peacefully when your time was up, you escaped into this pitiful thing you call a body, only to pretend you're something you're not for years to come...
No, no, no... Leave me alone... I'm not pretending, this is my life now!
Life? You call this act a life? Dear gods, you're still trying to deceive yourself? To hide from the truth? My, my...
I'm not hiding, I'm running forward...
Running forward to avoid your past, maybe...
No!! It's not true, stop telling me that... Leave... Go away...
A window opened. A light thump was heard.
"...Hiei?"
"I got bored. This dull world you call home is rather tedious."
Despite his earlier bothersome sub-conscious thoughts, Kurama smiled. He was happy to see Hiei, as usual. "Would you like me to get you something to eat or drink?"
Hiei's eyes lit up for a second, but he immediately took control of his emotions, not wanting to ruin his image (something that bothered Kurama a bit, but he assumed Hiei would get over it, eventually). "Do you have any more of that sweet snow stuff?"
Kurama chuckled. He knew the little demon would ask him that. "Yes, actually, I do. Strawberry or chocolate flavored?"
"Chocolate."
"Be right back."
Kurama headed downstairs, entered the kitchen, and took the carton of chocolate ice cream from the freezer, scooping part of its contents up with a spoon and putting them in a little glass bowl. After returning the ice cream to its rightful spot, he headed back up the stairs and handed the bowl to Hiei, who grabbed the bowl immediately and started eating from it as if his life depended on it.
Suddenly, Kurama remembered what Yusuke had told him to do.
"Hiei, we have a new mission." he said.
Hiei stopped 'feasting' for a moment and looked up, his lower face half brown.
"Yusuke stopped by today to tell me to meet him at Genkai's temple at 9:30 PM. He wanted me to tell you to come too. Apparently, we'll be told what to do over there."
"Hmph. I wonder what the toddler wants from us now."
"From the sound of it, it's something serious."
Hiei put his now empty bowl of ice cream down, licked what remained of it off his face, and faced Kurama again. "How serious?"
"I don't know, it's just an assumption. I've told you everything Yusuke told me. He doesn't seem to have a clue about the mission himself."
Hiei glanced at the watch that hung on Kurama's wall. Kurama had recently taught him to tell time the way humans do, despite the fact that Hiei complained and kept insisting he didn't need it. "Well, we'd better leave if you don't want to be rushing like mad. You seem a bit tired."
Kurama smiled at Hiei's consideration. "Let's go."
The two walked down the stairs, and stepped out of Kurama's house, heading towards Genkai's temple and expecting one of the regular life risking missions they normally got from Koenma. But little did they know, this one wasn't 'normal' at all...
Oooh, wonder what task Koenma has for them this time... Next chapter, you'll find out, but not all of it. ::wink::
Not much of a dark chapter, I know, but trust me, angst lovers... It's going to get darker. A lot darker. I know this chapter sucked (it was kind of a 'filler' chapter, in a way... sorry, I needed to put it in!), but please review! Reviews make me update faster, and reviewers get a waffle :)