Bara no Jigoku

Chapter One: Just A Start to All the Madness

By Otaku Freak Kiken


Kurama slumped in his chair. He ran his hand through his bright red hair with a deep sigh. The clock on his desk read well past midnight, and his vision was starting to fail him. He rose from his seated position and checked over his newly sown seeds he had just planted in a flower pot. As he reached for his lamp, his hand slightly touched a small bottle and made it tip over. He had not noticed this since it was completely dark in his room, and he was already approaching his bed.

The bottle's opening rested on the edge of the flower pot. A mysterious substance poured out onto the soil, saturating it.

When Kurama woke later on that day, he discovered his little experiment had actually worked... but he wasn't expecting it to work within a few hours. Growing from the flower pot was a full-blown rose shrub with four different blooms. He smiled in satisfaction as he checked over his newest creation. "This has got to be the best specimen I've ever grown by far... But how did it develop so rapidly?" He pondered on this question for a while until he realized that he had only a few minutes to get ready. He was going to meet up with Yusuke for a day of "hanging out". He quickly went off to change and ready himself.

Hiei stood on a large branch of a nearby tree, looking down on a walking Kurama. His eyebrow perked when he saw Yusuke not too far off. 'What are they up to? Kurama's actually outside for once... and he's with the Detective... Hn... Not like it's any of MY concern... but I am quite curious as to why they'd be out in public together...' Hiei thought to himself. He flitted off to another tree, closer to the action. He peered down in amusement. "Hn..."

Yusuke suggested sitting down on a bench before going anywhere, so the two seated themselves and started to talk to each other. Off in the distance, a very tall figure was moving towards them. Yusuke groaned and looked over at Kurama, who was overjoyed with being outside and talking to people rather than reading highly intellectual and mind boggling books or playing God with mutant plants. Yusuke rolled his eyes at the sight of Kurama smiling and focused on the oncoming being. "Who invited him?"

Kurama sighed and accepted the fact that an uninvited guest was on his way. "I didn't, but I guess it's okay, right?" He cheerfully looked around and waved to the person walking towards them. "He's not all that bad... And, besides, it's still considered 'hanging out' if more than two people are together, right?"

The Detective closed his eyes and shook his head in shame. "You're so sheltered... and that's not a good thing, fox boy... Man, I wanted this day to be just us two getting to know each other a little better. Now that the buffoon is mixed in with the whole plan it screws everything up." He glanced over Kurama's expression and questioned it. "What's the matter?"

The yoko had a disturbed face. "You just made it sound like a date... Look, I LIKE you and all, but... Not in that sort of way. And what would Keiko think? I hope you don't take this the wrong way... I just want to keep our relationship at a friendly state." He smiled.

Yusuke screamed. "Ew! EW! No way, man! I didn't mean it like that! WHOA BUDDY!!! Ack! I'm SOOOO straight! STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW!!!" He inched away from him like there was no tomorrow. He hyperventilated as he sat there, nearly rocking back and forth. 'Happy place! Happy place!!!'

Hiei choked at Kurama's comment and coughed only momentarily. 'Please tell that was a joke...' He almost felt like joining Yusuke in the pursuit of a "happy place". But, then again, "happiness" doesn't sound like it would help him that much, either. He quickly calmed himself and continued to watch them.

Kurama waved his hand in a swatting motion at Yusuke. "I was only joshing with you! Don't be so uptight!" He chuckled when he saw Yusuke smirk at him. "And I think he's here already..." He sat upright with a friendly grin. 'Now that the team's all together, I can probably explain the experiment to them...'

Hiei smirked. 'So he know's I'm near... Smart fox...' Hiei jumped to yet another tree, this time right above the team. He looked down at Kurama, who suddenly glanced up and smiled at him. "Erk!" Hiei quickly moved to another branch and watched from there. 'He thinks he's so funny...'

Kuwabara ran up to the pair and scowled. "What is wrong with you, Urameshi?! Why'd you not tell me Kurama's out of the house?! WHY?!" He huffed as he stood there, clenching his fists and teeth. "It's like a rare sighting! A miracle! And you didn't tell me!!!"

Kurama's eyebrow twitched in aggravation. "I'm not THAT secluded from society..." He crossed his arms and looked away with an angry face. "Yusuke just wanted it to be the two of us, ALONE... But you had to ruin it! Now we'll NEVER get to know each other BETTER..." He had changed his expression to more of a disappointed and "heartbroken" stare.

Yusuke shuddered and cringed. "And you said I made it sound bad! Geeze!!!" He pressed himself up against the far end of the bench, quite a ways away from the fox. His face showed such a disturbed glare, and his body was extremely stiff. He didn't move an inch. "You better tell me that was a joke!... C'mon, man!"

Kurama shook his head. "Oh, but Yusuke!" His eyes were welling up with tears, and he gave a sad, timid, "puppy" look.

Everyone fell to the ground, besides Hiei and Kurama. "GYAH!!!" They all started to hyperventilate.

Hiei fell from the branch he was standing on, with quite a delayed reaction. He landed on the sidewalk with a loud "WHUMP!!!", and groaned painfully soon after. "... Insolent fox!" He gingerly rose and stood in front of Kurama with a "friendly" glare of death. "THAT was NOT funny!"

Kurama let out a small snicker, which grew to a loud, uncontrollable laughter.

Sweatdrops formed on the faces of everyone except Kurama. 'There's something VERY WRONG with him today...' They all shook it off and recuperated themselves as they stood again.

Kurama caught his breath and sighed in victory. "I got you all! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!"

No one laughed at this. "No, you DIDN'T... you scared the crap outta us, though!"

Kurama scowled at them and growled. "Thanks for ruining my moment..."

Everyone smiled and raised their hands in a peace sign. "No problem!" (Yes, even Hiei! Now picture THAT!)

After a routine round of "I'm More Superior Than You" between Hiei and Kuwabara, Kurama led them all back to his house. As they made their way up to his room, his mother stopped them in their tracks.

"Suichi! There you are! Where have you been?!" She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "I've been looking all over for you! I almost called the police!"

The group set all eyes on Kurama. 'The poor guy... No wonder he never leaves the house!' Sympathetic smiles came from them all. (Yes, even Hiei! AGAIN!)

Kurama groaned. "I told you I was going to be out with my friend today..." He stared at the ground as his mother started to "lecture" at him. He only replied with, "Yes mother, I understand..." He glanced at the faces of his companions and pathetically grinned. "Shall we move on?"

His mother had yet one more thing to say. "Oh, and Suichi... I wanted to tell you about that new rose bush I found in your room. It got so big that I had to put it outside, and... Well... I checked just a few minutes ago, and it vanished! I'm so sorry!"

Kurama crumbled. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" He dropped to his knees and bawled. "My plant!!! My creation!!! GONE!!! FOREVER!!!"

Yusuke eyes did shifty glances as he looked down upon his lamenting teammate. "Uh... we'll help you find it, won't we guys?" Hie eyes grew stern when he shot serious glances at the others. They didn't show any sign of unacceptance. "Good! Now, let's go get that plant! Thingy!... Uh... Um... what is it again?"

Kurama looked up at him with a truly saddened expression. "A highly evolved rose shrub..."

Yusuke nodded and started walking out the door. "Whatever he said! C'mon, guys!"

The team reluctantly followed.



Yo! It's me again! Sorry I haven't written in such a long time! I've been so busy, and my parents have been uber mean lately! Please review! PLEASE!!! I will try to put up a second chapter right away, well... as soon as I finish it... yeah... or something like that! If you were wondering what the title means, you'll just have to wait till the next chapter! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Yes!!! I win!!! You must read the next chapter!!!... Uh... YEAH... SORRY!!! Peace, ya'll!

Ja-ne!


-Otaku Freak Kiken