Mind Trap Pt. 1: Kurama and Kuwabara
Standard Disclaimer: Hey, Yeah…you know the deal. Blah dee Blah. Translation: I don't own YYH, or any of the characters, except for Kuwabara's poor Mommi, and his mean disgusting pig of a father. End of translation. Wow, I never knew Blah dee Blah could mean so much…Did you?
"Botan?" The word escaped from Kurama's lips as a whisper. He just lay there in the grass staring up at her, so real, but it seemed impossible. "Are…you real?"
Botan blinked and looked at him, a puzzled look on her face. "Kurama, of course I'm real. See?" She placed her hands on his and gave a sweet smile, the one he loved so much. "Are you okay Kurama-kun?"
"I am now." He said softly as he sat up to get a better look at her.
"Why are you whispering?" Botan asked as she looked around.
"No reason." Kurama responded, as if in a trance, this time he made sure his voice was a little louder.
"Is there something on my face?" She asked almost laughing. She began to inspect herself, wiping off imaginary dirt with her hands.
Kurama shook his head and took her hands, stopping her. "No." His voice had returned back to a whisper. "You're perfect."
"K-Kurama…" She stuttered her amethyst eyes melting into his emerald ones. She stopped breathing; it seemed she was in shock.
"I think…I mean…" Kurama took a breath and looked back at her gathering to say the words his heart was screaming. "I love you."
Botan's eyes widened, and her hand became stiff before she pulled it away. "Kurama… Y—You can't…"
"What? I do. I said it and I mean it Botan. I…I love you with all that I have." He said desperately trying to make her believe.
"I'm sorry Kurama." Her eyes filled with tears and filled with pity. "I can't love you."
Kurama's world shattered into a million tiny shards, and it was impossible to put them back together. "Why?" He managed to choke out. His mouth had gone dry.
A few tears slid down the Deity's cheeks, and her eyes filled up with more. She shut her eyes. "Because I love Koenma and he loves me…" she said weakly, but her words still had enough force to break the Kitsune's heart. She watched his eyes become blank. "And…we're going to get married…" she whispered, hoping to take the edge off her words.
"It's not possible. You said you didn't love him, that you were only friends. What about Ayame? I thought there was something going on between Koenma and Ayame." Kurama ranted softly, his hands were shaking, and his chest hurt. It must have been because his heart was being torn apart from the inside.
"What? I never told you that. There is nothing between Ayame and Koenma; they're just friends. I can't love you Kurama. I just—I can't okay?" The ferry girl wiped the tears from her eyes, picked herself up off the ground, and ran. Kurama could see her form disappear in to the distance.
His eyes were dull. She was gone. She had left. She didn't feel the same way, not even close. Kurama started to wander aimlessly, the branches of trees catching his clothes, tearing them. The forest seemed to claw at the Kitsune, messing up his hair and scratching his face. But he didn't care. No, it seemed he didn't care much about anything now.
Somehow, he found his way into a cave, and he delved his way deeper in, until all traces of light were gone. He sat against the cold hard rock, shivering out of pain, not of cold. His head hurt, it pounded steadily. It started softly but the intensity of it began to grow and soon Kurama was clutching his head, trying to shake away the pain.
The voices didn't help either. He couldn't stop them. They just kept on replaying in his head.
*I don't love you. I love Koenma. I can't. I can't. I can't. Kurama. I can't love you.*
Her voice. It was her voice in his head. She would always be there, even when she was gone. He would always love her, even if she gave her heart to someone else. But he just couldn't take the pain. The voice in his head wouldn't go away and soon, it began to tell him how worthless he was, and how undeserving.
He just wanted to die.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He slowly opened his eyes and awoke to a looming darkness. Kuwabara pushed off the blanket and turned on the light to his room. It was nighttime, and he could hear the sound of the wind beating at his closed window. His door cracked open.
"I thought you were asleep." Her voice stated calmly. His sister wasn't even surprised he was home.
"Where am I?" His question was met with a disbelieving stare. "Er, I mean…why am I here?"
Shizuru smacked her head. "You live here." She walked over to him and put a hand to his head. "Are you feeling okay baby brother, because you sure are acting weird."
Kuwabara shook his sister's hand away. "I'm supposed to be in the underworld, trying to find Botan. I need to help the other guys." He hit his fist. "I bet the little shrimp did this to me! Hiei, you little punk, I'm gonna beat the crap outta you!!!" Kuwabara shouted as he began to put on his shoes.
"Wow, you really are delirious. Who are you talking about anyway?"
"Don't talk like that Sis. You know, Botan. You were there at her funeral. You were standing there when Koenma was telling us about how she died." Shizuru didn't say a thing, her eyes just filled with pity. "…You do remember don't you?" Kuwabara asked incredulously.
"I think you're tired so why don't you just lay back down. Dad's going to be gone tomorrow…you'll feel better."
"What are you talking about Shizuru?" Kuwabara asked his voice rising in volume. Their parents had left a while ago and Shizuru became the only family he had. Shizuru opened her mouth to speak when they jumped at the sound of shattering glass.
"Damn you woman! You whore! You're just some disgusting slut out on the street! I can't even look at you anymore." That voice traveled to Kuwabara's room and made his blood run cold.
He began to walk out of his room when his sister grabbed him by the arm. "No don't. Just go back to sleep."
Kuwabara wrenched his arm from his sister's grip. "No way. I want to know what's going on."
"Please just go to sleep baby brother. You know what's going on down there. I know you do!" Shizuru's voice was filled with desperation.
Kuwabara just stared at her. His sister wasn't the same. Her laid back attitude was replaced with a desperate aura and maybe even a little fear. "What's wrong with you? What's happened to you Shizuru? …You've changed."
His sister's eyes narrowed, "What?"
Kuwabara took this chance to run out of his room and straight into the living room where he found his mother with a tear streaked face and his father shouting, anger burning in his eyes. They didn't notice him.
Kuwabara's mother looked a wreck. Her hair was in a disheveled array around her face and her mascara was running from her eyes. "I swear I didn't do anything. I was just talking to him. We're only friends."
The man just snorted. "I can't believe I married you, a bitch who not only cheats but lies too. You're worthless. I should just leave…but that would be letting you off the hook now wouldn't it Miyu?"
"No, please. I didn't…no" She grabbed his wrist in desperation, her face was pale and her eyes were wild. She was kneeling and looking up at her husband with tears in her eyes. "You can't go…I love you."
The man's eyes became savage, "Oh Miyu, Miyu, Miyu. Don't lie to me. I can see through your every word." He grabbed his wife by the hair and picked her up so that she was staring him in the face, sobbing. "…I love you" He mimicked her voice cruelly. "Is that what you tell the men when you seduce them? Is it?!"
"No. I didn't—there are no men. Please, you have to believe me Sometaru." Miyu began to tremble, and her body was getting so weak.
"Oh no I don't. I don't have to believe some little whore who's just taking up valuable space!" He dropped her on the floor and she lay there crying. Sometaru gave a wicked laugh and kicked her hard in the stomach and picked up the can of beer on the table. He took a swig.
Kuwabara could hear his mother shriek in pain, and he hated it. He clenched his fist and started to stride out into the open, making his presence aware. But he was held back again. It was Shizuru.
"No, you can't. You don't understand, he'll hurt you."
"What? That's crazy, I can't just leave our mom. What about her?"
"I'll handle it…just please stay here."
Kuwabara's father wiped his mouth, "Do you feel that pain Miyu? That's not even close to how I feel when you cheat and you lie. Don't you know I love you? That's why I do this Miyu. You have to know how much I love you." He picked her up and slapped her. "Do you feel the burning? Like someone set your cheek on fire? My pain is ten times worse and I feel it all over my body, I feel it in my soul!" He dropped her again.
As Sometaru was about to kick his wife again Shizuru stood in between them. "Dad no. Stop, please stop. Mom never cheated on you. I know she didn't, she loves you too much."
"Miyu, you've been teaching our daughter your ways now? She's just going to turn out to be a slutty little prostitute just like you, if she's not halfway there already."
Shizuru winced. "Dad, you aren't yourself. You're drunk and you—"
"Shut up!" He pushed her across the room and Shizuru collided roughly with the bookcase. It teetered and fell directly on her.
"Shizuru!" Kuwabara screamed as he ran to pull her from beneath the rubble. He found her, but Shizuru's head was bleeding. "Hey Sis. Are you okay?" Shizuru gave a weak smile in return. Kuwabara stood up and faced his father.
"Stop it now."
"Do you seriously think that just telling me to stop will work? You're more of an idiot than I thought you were. Do you know what you are Kazuma? You are a worthless piece of crap, just like your mother. You can't fight, you can't strategize and you're ugly too. You're useless to all of your friends, and the only reason they keep you around is to pity you. Don't act like you don't know Kazuma. I know that you do, your eyes tell me everything."
"This—this can't be real. It has to be a dream or—"
"Yes, that's what I said when you were born Kazuma, too bad you didn't die." Sometaru turned back to Kuwabara's mother and gave an evil grin. "Miyu…come to me Miyu."
Miyu shook her head as she tried to crawl away whimpering. "Kazuma…help me Kazuma please."
"Don't touch her!" Kuwabara roared as he tried to hit his father…but something stopped him. He couldn't hit his father; he couldn't defend his mother. Every time he tried some invisible force stopped him. As much as he tried, and he did try continuously, he could not get past it. But he could still hear his mom screaming his name, crying out for help from her son just like she did when he was younger. He couldn't help her then and he wasn't able to help her now. "Don't worry mom, I'm going to get help."
Kuwabara opened the front door and stepped out, only to step into his bedroom once again. "What the hell?" He began to walk out of his room when Shizuru stepped from the shadows.
"Don't. You should stay in your room where it's safe." She replied, the blood around the gash on her forehead had dried, a mess of red that marred her skin.
"I don't care what you say, I've got to help Mom." Kuwabara ran out into the living room again, where his father kept hitting his mom. She wasn't even fighting back. And again Kuwabara tried to hit his father, tried to stop him, but to no avail. He ran past the bookcase, where Shizuru was laying. Kuwabara looked out to the hallway, seeing his sister again before she quickly disappeared. He looked down at the physical form of his sister.
"Go back to your room…where it's safe." She whispered before her eyes fluttered shut again.
Kuwabara made for the door again and again he landed in his room. Over and over again this happened. There was no end to the screams of pain, to the taunts, or to his own self-loathing.
A/N: Konnichiwa you fine wonderful readers!
Yes, it's Reikachan14 right here. Sorry if it took a while to type this up.
I was deep in thought on several things and working on a few of my other fics… ^_^;;
Well, I initially intended this to be all four of the Rekai Tantei's experiences, but that
seemed too long. So instead, I'm doing it in twos. So for now you've read the
Kurama and Kuwabara portion, all that's left is Yusuke's and Hiei's experience.
Okay, and if any of you are agitated at the Kurama/Botan scene. Have no fear.
Obviously I pretty much altered a portion of the idea for this chapter and the
next. Instead of everything being perfect and surreal, it'll pretty much be a
nightmare. I'm sure you tuned in to that change when you read my chapter.
I did my best not to make this a cliff hanger, it isn't right? …. Okay,
Anyways, I'll be working on my next chapter, and I'll try to get it out ASAP!
So, on to the teaser!
~*Teaser*~
Mind Trap Pt. 2: Yusuke and Hiei
While Kurama and Kuwabara face their own torments, Yusuke and Hiei begin to suffer their own.
It seems there's no escape out this 'test.' But suddenly a girl appears in each of their scenarios, giving a reassuring smile.
Who is she? And can the Rekai Tantei escape their own inner demons?