Oh, yeah, this is the good life. I have the third chapter done. Did you people know that all of these chapters are 2500 words or more? Normally my chapters are only a little over 1200 words.
I'm in heaven.
Oh, and by the way, I finished this chapter before I posted the first chapter, but I wanted to build anticipation for these chapters. But you know what? I'm bored of that. So I'm going to post it now.
WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMER: It's still in the first chapter. And there is a little bit of Youko and Shuuichi fluff at the end, but they both still want Hiei. Don't get confused.
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"He's gone?" Youko heard one of the tourists, a lady, ask. "But I wanted to meet the man who killed the Legendary Thief!" she whined.
"Well, let me give you some inside information," the bartender said to the lady. "He heard that Youko ain't dead. So he went off to the human realm to kill him for real this time."
Shuuichi! He's in trouble! Youko thought.
"So, how's the hunter going to find the fox? I've been told that if a fox doesn't want to be found, they won't be," she said.
"He was at the Dark Tournament," the bartender smugly informed. "He saw the disguise the fox wears. He'll get that Youko."
Youko stood up and walked toward the door, only to get stopped by the waitress. "You haven't paid for the drinks yet."
Youko glared at her and lowered his hood. "I think you want to let me pass," he said in a venomous voice. At once, all of the people in the bar looked at him and recognized who he was.
"Hey, aren't you The Legendary Bandit, Youko?" the female tourist asked.
Youko pulled out his rose whip and made short work of the bar and all of the customers.
He had to save Shuuichi and he didn't have time to deal with any crap.
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Yusuke was worried about Shuuichi.
Yes, he was going to call him Shuuichi whenever he remembered. He would only call him Kurama when he forgot to call him Shuuichi. He wasn't going to correct himself.
But he didn't want Kurama to be Shuuichi. He wanted him to be Kurama. He knew he could trust Kurama to be at his back.
Shuuichi didn't even have the skills to do the flips that he had done as Kurama. He really was normal now.
"I'm worried about him," Kuwabara said, mirroring Yusuke's own thoughts. "Didn't it seem as if he was depressed?"
"Idiot!" Yusuke yelled as he hit Kuwabara. "Of course he was depressed! Did you see how hard he was crying? How can you be such an idiot?!"
"Hey, I'm not an idiot, I just-"Whatever he 'just' was cut off as Yusuke started to beat the crap out of him.
It seemed as if the two boys were fighting over simple things, Yusuke calling Kuwabara an idiot, but the reality was, they needed a reason to fight. Any reason would do. They couldn't fight Shuuichi's problem, but they could fight each other.
They just felt so helpless.
Yusuke had always been able to help Kurama in the past, but now . . .
He remembered the first time he had met the fox. He had been touched at how Kurama was willing to give his life for his human mother. And not wanting someone that kind to die, regardless of weather he was a demon or not, Yusuke gave half his life to help him.
Later, when he fought against Hiei, Kurama risked his own life to save Yusuke. Yusuke had called the fox a friend ever since.
In the Dark Tournament, when that Shinobi Bakken was beating the crap out of Kurama's unconscious form, Yusuke was able to stop Bakken. He was able to do something then.
But what could he do now? He couldn't help his friend when he was needed.
And so, Kuwabara and Yusuke fought, both venting their frustrations on each other.
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While the two boys were in the Human Realm fighting, Hiei was in the Makai, trying to keep his sanity. Hiei still couldn't find that damn fox!
He had no idea where he could have gone, no idea where he might be going, and to make matters worse, Hiei had no idea where he was.
Hiei was lost.
He knew he could easily find out where he was by using the Jagan, but at the moment, the Jagan was busy trying to locate the energy of the fox. All he got was a faint hint of power coming from the direction of a town, but by the time he got there, he found that the town was a small city, and the fox was long gone.
Dammit! Where is that fox?!
When Hiei got to the destroyed bar, he knew there was no way to get any information out of the people in it. Youko had killed them all.
On closer inspection, Hiei could tell that they were killed with the Rose Whip. The only attack that took so little energy it was almost undetectable. Hiei hadn't sensed it until the attack was about an hour old.
The fox could be anywhere by now!
I promised Shuuichi I would bring Youko back to him, Hiei thought to himself. I can't do that if I can't FIND THE DAMN FOX!
Hiei walked around the town, trying to see what in it interested Youko so much. If he could find out what it was, maybe he could find out where the fox may be heading.
"Yeah, Youko Kurama was killed in this area," Hiei heard someone telling someone else.
So that's why he was here, Hiei thought. He wants to get revenge on the hunter. So all I have to do is find the hunter first.
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Shuuichi didn't feel like going to school the next day, and Shiori wasn't going to press the matter. In fact, she wanted her son to stay home after he spent all that time crying last night. She was still worried about him.
Just like everyone else was.
After Shiori left the house for work, Shuuichi decided to take a shower. Just like always, he first checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Usually, Youko would complain about how messed up his hair was after sleeping all night, but today, Youko was silent.
Of course he's silent, Shuuichi thought to himself. He's not here.
After his shower, Shuuichi started to run his brush through his hair. He remembered that his hair was longer than usual yesterday morning, but today he couldn't see the difference. Once again, tears started to gather in his eyes, but this time he wiped them away.
What would Youko say if he saw him crying like this?
Shuuichi looked at the seeds that were still in a small container. That's where Youko put the seeds so they wouldn't dry out at night. Youko didn't need to put them in a container when he was in his true form, but while in Shuuichi's form, he couldn't send constant energy to them.
Shuuichi looked at the seeds again. The Death Plant was one of the seeds. And Shuuichi knew which one it was, too.
Even though he wasn't Youko anymore, he could still use the deadly plant on himself. Once planted in a person's blood, the Death Plant would grow uncontrollably. Only Youko would be able to control it.
But Youko wasn't here.
This would be the perfect way to kill myself, Shuuichi thought. A small cut, put the seed inside, and let it grow. I'd be dead in less than an hour.
With his mind made up, Shuuichi picked up the seed and put it in his hair, right where Youko would have put it. He wouldn't kill himself in the house; Shiori didn't deserve to see that.
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Youko had just gotten back through the rift and was back in the Human Realm. He needed to get to Shuuichi before it was too late. The hunter wouldn't care that he wasn't Youko; he would kill him just for fun.
Just because he had once been Youko.
Youko, in his fox form, reached the house only to find Shuuichi had already left. Dammit! Where is that boy when I need him?! Youko went to the front door and instantly picked up his scent. Following the scent, Youko ran into the nearby woods.
These woods aren't as nearby as they used to be, Youko thought. Everything seemed so far away now. It was taking too long to get to Shuuichi.
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Shuuichi had reached the small river in the woods. He looked around quietly. It wasn't too far from here where he first met Yusuke. That brought a smile to Shuuichi's face.
One of his only real friends.
He really should have written a note to them, telling them why he was doing this. And then, what would Koenma and Botan say when they found him? No doubt Botan would be the one to escort him to Reikai.
Did he really want to do this? He knew that death wasn't really the end. He knew exactly where he was going to go. All I want is to be with Youko again. If I can't have that, then I don't want to exist.
But he knew that they wouldn't grant that wish of his. Everyone liked him too much. But, hey, that's why he brought the Death Plant seed. Those killed by that plant didn't get a second chance at all. The plant destroyed the body as well as the soul.
That's why Youko liked it so much. And why Shuuichi was going to use it.
He sat at the edge of the river and pulled out his knife. It was little more than a Swiss Army knife Yusuke left at his house a few months earlier that he never got around to returning.
Well, here goes nothing, he thought as he made a deep cut in his arm. Shuuichi pulled out the seed and gently shoved it into the cut. Instantly he could feel the plant growing.
It was growing faster than he had thought it would, but then he remembered that even though he didn't have Youko's power, he did share his Life Energy. That is what was feeding the plant, making it grow faster.
Shuuichi at first thought he would have an hour. But now he knew it would be more like thirty minutes.
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Youko was still running as fast as he could, trying to catch Shuuichi. He could sense that the boy was dying, but from what? He couldn't feel the hunter's energy anywhere.
Mere seconds later, he came across Shuuichi. Instantly he recognized what was killing the boy and he stopped the plant's growth.
"I knew you wouldn't last a week without me, Shuuichi," Youko said concernedly. "But I thought you would last a little more than a day."
"You . . . ko? . . . You . . . came . . . back? . . . Why?" Shuuichi was able to say.
"Shut up, foolish boy. I came back for a reason, but not to take care of you," he snapped.
"Oh," Shuuichi whispered in a depressed voice. "Then stop trying to take out the plant," he demanded. "If you're not with me, then it's not worth living."
Youko looked at the boy lying in front of him. Youko had just barely started to extract the plant, and if he stopped right now, Shuuichi would be dead in less than a minute.
"Do you really want to die?" Youko asked him quietly.
"Yes," came the whispered response. "I feel so . . . incomplete . . . without you. Just let me die. Please."
The seed was trying to grow, but Youko wouldn't let it. He was trying to think. Did he really want to be separated from Shuuichi? It really was his fault that Shuuichi was trying to kill himself.
If Youko had just let himself die seventeen years ago, none of this would have happened to Shuuichi. He could have had a normal life. And normal friends.
He wouldn't have had to meet the Legendary Thief Youko Kurama.
But he also wouldn't have been able to save his mother. He wouldn't have been as smart as he is now. He wouldn't have . . . There was so much Shuuichi wouldn't have been able to do or be if it hadn't been for Youko.
Youko had made Shuuichi's life fun, even if it had been dangerous at times. Shuuichi liked the plants that Youko kept. Shuuichi liked to tend the garden; he liked the flowers.
He couldn't imagine how his life would have been like if Youko had never intervened. Youko was his best friend. He needed the fox. He really did.
And as much as Youko didn't want to admit it, he had noticed that without Shuuichi, he was more violent then he had ever been. Now that he knew what it was like to have the boy around, he knew that he needed to keep the boy.
"Shuuichi, would you still want to die if I said I'll return to you?" Youko asked quietly.
Shuuichi looked up at the face of the silver fox. "I need you, Youko. If you came back to me . . . no. I wouldn't want to die if you came back."
"Well, I have a few things I need to take care of first, but when I do come back, I expect you to still be among the living." With that said, Youko quickly took the Death Plant out of Shuuichi's body.
Able to move again and only in pain from the cut on his arm, Shuuichi asked Youko, "What is it that you need to take care of?"
"The hunter," was the curt reply Youko offered. "He's the reason I came back. I heard he found out that I was here in the Human Realm. He was also at the Dark Tournament, so he saw you. That's why I had to come back so quickly."
"To get him, or to protect me?" Shuuichi asked softly.
"Both."
Shuuichi looked at the fox that had been with him his entire life and smiled. He reached out and pulled Youko into a tight hug. "When you're done with the hunter, Hiei went into the Makai to find you. Do you think you could make a detour to bring him back?"
"You still love him?" Youko asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, and all thanks to you. You know it's your fault I'm in love with him." Shuuichi was in a much better mood than he had been in all week. Not only was he not fighting with Youko, but he also knew that the fox would be returning to him.
Youko knew what Shuuichi was going through. Even thought it was Shuuichi who had pulled him into the hug, it was Youko who refused to let go. He hadn't realized exactly how much he had cared about the boy until it was almost too late.
He had almost lost this boy for good.
"Shuuichi," Youko started, "I want you to stay with Yusuke for a while. Tell Shiori anything you have to, but I want you to stay with him. Or better yet, have him stay with you. I don't want to risk loosing you. That hunter knows his stuff, he was able to get me, and I don't-"
"Alright, don't worry about me," Shuuichi interrupted. "I'll be okay. Now that I know you'll be back, everything will be okay."
Youko slowly released Shuuichi. "I have the feeling that I should take back all the seeds you have in the house," Youko said in a joking tone, but they both knew he was serious.
"I promise I won't try anything like that again," Shuuichi said.
Youko looked at Shuuichi carefully for a few moments before nodding his head. "Fine, you can keep them. But keep all the Death Plant Seeds away from your cut," Youko advised. "If I come back to find you sprouting flowers as if you were a flowerpot, I will be very angry." They both knew that was an understatement. "Be careful, Shuuichi."
"I will. I'm starting to think you worry more than I do," Shuuichi joked.
"You have no power," the fox pointed out.
"I'll call Yusuke as soon as I get home. I'm sure he'll be glad for a reason to skip school, and Shiori . . . "Shuuichi stopped talking at the thought of Shiori. Now was the moment of truth. Would Youko be mad at him for telling Shiori about him?
"What about her?"
"Well, I kind of told her a little bit about you. I hope you're not angry; it just slipped out. I only told her that you were a friend of mine and that you ran away from home," he said quickly.
"If you really want to," Youko said after a few moments of consideration, "you can tell her all about me. I know you always hated lying to her."
"R-really?"
"Yeah, I don't like the idea of anyone else knowing about me, but I guess we do owe Shiori an explanation."
Shuuichi hugged Youko again and whispered quietly, knowing he would still hear him, "I'll wait until you come back to tell her everything. Will you help me tell her?"
"Yeah. I'll help. And I'll be back with Hiei, too."
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YAY!!! They got back together! Youko will be back soon, and with Hiei!! Isn't that good news?
Wait, he still has to catch the hunter. Oh no, I hope this doesn't get sad again!