Chapter Two: My Story

'Where have I heard that name? I know I've heard that name somewhere but I just can't remmeber!' I thought as I spied Yusuke's apartment complex.

When I approached the desk at the front, there was a man there who I asked where I could find Yusuke. He wrote down a number on a small piece of paper and handed it to me.

"He's in apartment 56. Go up the stairs to the third floor and look on your left," he explained and I thanked him before heading up. I climbed the stairs to the third floor because the elevators were out of order and was rather out of breath by the time I reached the apartment.

"It's about time you got here," said Yusuke who was sitting right outside his apartment door when I reached it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I said sarcastically.

"Come on in," he said and opened the door to the apartment. I followed him inside and come upon a very untidy living room.

"Sorry about the mess," he said with an apologetic look and then lead me to his bedroom which was much better. He sat down on the floor and I followed the suit.

"So," I said with a sigh, "what do you want to know about me?"

"How about your first name to start with?"

"My name is Kumiko."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"What's your bra size?" he asked and I was very surprised at his boldness.

"What the hell!! What kind of question is that?" I yelled and he started laughing.

"Just kidding. Well, let's cut to the chase; Why don't you talk?"

"Too hard a question."

"Huh?"

"I mean I'm not sure of the whole reason. I never thought much about it. I just don't have the desire to converse with people much."

"Got a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Pfft, figures."

"What's that supposed to mean," I asked angrily.

"You never open yourself up to anyone enough for them to get close to you."

"What if I like it that way?"

"Whatever floats your boat. Seems like it's be kind of lonely though."

"Hey! I've had lots of friends!"

"Yeah, 'had' being the key word here. And who were these friends of yours?"

"Well... I.....it was just..." I stumbled and my eyes fell to the floor. "I had ONE friends before."

"Guy or girl."

"It was a guy."

"What was his name," asked Yusuke and I kept silent. I couldn't say his name without feeling emotional. My eyes started filling up with tears and I swept them away before they could break free.

"It doesn't matter," I said feeling so stupid. 'I am such an idiot! It's be like 3 damn years so I shouldn't cry about it. I shouldn't cry at all. I hate crying...'

"What happened between you two?"

"Nothing. He just left. He told me he had something to take care of. That was three years ago. I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"Well if you won't tell me his name then will you tell me what he looked like?"

"I guess so. Well, he was about my height-"

"Short," Yusuke stated bluntly.

"Whatever. Anyway, he had kind of spikey black hair, was pretty muscular, and he had...... gorgeous red eyes."

"Well, if I were a girl then I'd say he sounded hot but I don't swing that way," he joked and we both laughed while I gave him a soft punch in the shoulder.

"He wasn't just good looking, though. He had this mysteriousness about him, you know? Something was different about this one. He was really sweet once you got past his hard exterior."

"Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside." We laughed.

"He's not a freaking candy bar! Anyway, he left so suddenly but told me he'd come back. I haven't seem any evidence that he has," I said as I played with my shoulder-length black hair a little.

"How old is this guy supposed to be?"

"Um, I'd say somehwere around 17 or 18. I'm pretty sure he's a year older than me," I said and then I realized that I had no idea how old Hiei's demon form was. Probably really old but I had never asked to find out.

"So THAT'S how old he is..." said Yusuke more to himself than me.

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing. So the reason you don't talk has something to do with not seeing this guy for a while?"

"Something like that, I guess. It's all really complicated. I guess it's that... he could make me happy and without him here..... I don't feel cheerful much anymore. And I talk when I'm in a good mood."

'Then you can't hate me all that much," said Yusuke and I smiled. He was right. Something about Yusuke just made me feel like I could open up. He He was the first person I had enjoyed talking to in a long time. He was really funny too. He reminded me of a friend when I was younger, Sorano (A/N: I HAD to mention YOU, Pom pom!! )

"No, I guess not," I said and he smiled back.

"Was he a good kisser?"

"WHAT?!?!" I said rather surprised and next he laughed while I smacked him upside the head.

"I was just wondering!" he said between chuckles.

"I really wouldn't know what a good or bad kiss was anyway. i only kissed him twice."

"Hiei kissed a girl?!!!!" Yusuke said to himself again but more loudly than the last and the second I heard Hiei's name, I snapped to full attention.

"How did you know his name was Hiei??" I demanded with wide eyes. He slapped his hands over his mouth and shrugged his shoulders nervously.

"Uh.... I didn't."

"Do you know him?!" I grabbed him by the collar and shook him violently. Ok, so I was getting hysterical but this was how much I wanted to see Hiei.

"N-no!"

"LIAR!"

OK! Ok! I.... I do know Hiei," he said with a defeated sigh.

"Where is he?" I said in such an anxious voice that it almosy sounded like I expected him to come out of the closet and kill me or something.

"Well, Hiei is usually all over the place. He's never in one spot very long."

"Help me find him," I said standing up.

"What?!" He exclaimed and I suddenly remembered where I had heard of Yusuke.

".... Holy crap....Yusuke Urameshi?" I asked and he arched an eyebrow. "I remember now! I saw you and Hiei and that red-head fighting a demon! You were one of Hiei's friends!!"

"AM one of his friends. But I'm not sure friends is the right word. Hiei would never admit that he has 'friends'. But you're right. Took you long enough to remember me."

"You looked different from what I remembered you as," I explained and then went back to the original subject. "Will you help me find Hiei? And if you say no, I swear, I will never leave you alone about it. You've never seen annoying until you've got me on your back!"

"And I don't think I want to. I guess I'll help then."

"Great! Where do we start?"

"Right now?"

"Yes, right now!" I said and dragged him out of his room, his apartment, and his building. Once we were outsided, I asked him again, "Where do we start looking?"

"Well, lucky for you, I think I have an idea to how we can find Shorty."

"How is that?"

"Botan's got a little whistle that drives him crazy! If we blow it then he'll come after it, where ever it is." he said sounding like some tour guide or something.

"Let's get that whistle!!" I yelled and Yusuke pulled it out of his pocket instantly. "Why the heck do YOU have it? I thought you said we had to get it from Botan."

"I was having a little fun with it earlier today and hadn't gotten around to giving it back yet."

"You mean you swiped it from Botan," I said in a very unimpressed tone.

"Technically, it belongs to me becuase it's a spirit detective item and-"

"Yeah, yeah, just blow the damn thing already!" I commanded but Yusuke didn't obey.

"It probably wouldn't be the best idea to blow this here or now because Hiei will come in and start slashing at everything in sight!"

"Yeah, you're right. Uh... what if we moved this to the old valley. The one that used to have that factory on it. It's been bulldozed down was it's turned into a little woods. A place with lots of trees is a good place to start anyway."

"Good idea. But we might want to do this at night. It gives us more cover incase we get some unexpected visitors."

"Alright," I said then added, "Let's do it at like eleven or something. It's about six o'clock now so we've got a good five hours. Is that good for you?"

"Yup. We'll meet up there and find Hiei. He's kind of a night owl so he'll be up."

"Ok. So I'm going to go home and eat dinner with my family and then I'll slip out later. Don't be late tonight," I said and we both went our seperate ways back home.

On the way back, I felt enlivened.

Hiei

I was going to see him for the first time in over three years. I had dreamed of this day for so long and I hoped it would be a happy reunion.

'I hope he remembers me. He might have forgotten all about me,' I thought as I continued walking. 'That'd be just terrible. He wouldn't forget me, would he? I bet he won't. Atleast I hope he won't.'

I thought about what might happen if he really didn't remember me. I did look really different. I was 17 now, not 14. I know I look dramatically different since then. I looked down at my black nails and started scatching off my nail polish a little and before I knew it, I was home. I opened the door quietly and saw my little sister and my dad sitting on the couch watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway" and they were so engrossed in their show that they didn't notice I had entered the room before I plopped down on the couch.

"Oh, hey, Kumiko. Have fun at your friend's house?" asked Dad. I smiled and nodded. "You must have. You look so happy. It's been a while since you visited any friends of yours. It's nice that your trying to hang out with them more. I'm glad."

"Yeah, me too," I said. My mom popped her head into the family room and annouced that dinner was ready. I had great timing.

"We'll be right there," Miyuki said with her eyes still glued to the screen. My dad picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and brought her into the kitchen because he knew that if HE didn't bring her in there, she wouldn't get in there. My sister was a little obsessed with her t.v. shows.

That night we had a great dinner with my great family and had a great time..... wow, I was really a lot more excited than I first realized. ((A/N: Hiei sexily took off him sexy bandages off his sexy arm... LOL, pompom and jelly. Quote from another fanfic)) I felt so anxious to see him again and my mom said after dinner that she noticed I was acting rather bouncy. I got the dishes done as fast as I possibly could and then told my parents that I was going up to bed. By this time, it was about 9:30 in the evening and I still had to wait another hour before I left. A half an hour would give me enough time to ride my bike to the valley. Normally, I'd take my parents car that they let me use but I didn't want questions about where I was going. So 10:30 crawled around and I put on a black tank top and jeans (going for the dark colors incase I had to hide) and crept outside. My sister was dead asleep on the couch with the remote in her hand as the TV flashed and I had to tip-toe passed her and handle our squeeky front door with extra care. When I got outside, I felt so free. I got jitters in my stomach that made my whole body shiver with excitement.

"I'm coming to find you, Hiei," I said to the night and it whispered back with a soft breeze. I took a deep breathe, grabbed my bike, and was off.

------------....later-------------

Well, after much panting and peddling, I made it to the valley. I looked at my watch which read 11:13 and I cursed at myself for being late. Parked my bike by a tree that marked the outskirts of the little wood, I started walking forward. When I entered it, I was suddenly a little creeped out. The darkness usually never bothered me but this was a little differet.... ((A/N: this was ADVANCED darkness. lol. sorry, the spongebob fan in me had to say it)) I felt like I was being watched. Every sound I made me me even more nervous. I heard a rustle and I felt my heart race as I pounded in my ears. Then I saw a shadow. It was up against a tree and it was moving towards me. I wished I had packed some kind of weapon with me like a knife or a anything lethal ((A/N: hey, she could have brought a nail filer. every school in the country thinks they're a weapon)). When the shadow came even closer, I felt a scream build up in my throat, ready to release. Then I screeched as loud as I could for just a split second because the showed figured covered my mouth.

"Don't scream, you baka!" said Yusuke, to my relief.

"Oh my God, I thought you were some axe murderer or something when you just kept coming closer without saying anything."

"It's just me," he said and suddenly, a lantern of some sort was alluminated and I saw his face. It was a very comforting sight in a creepy place like this. "You ready to do this?"

"Yeah," I answered trying to catch my breath. "What is that thing?" I pointed at the lantern.

"It's an old electic light that my mom used to use when she went camping as a kid. Amazingly, it still works. It runs on batteries so it won't go out."

"Alright. Got the whistle?"

"Right here," he said fishing in his jacket pocket and pulling it out.

"Ok, let's do this."

&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!&!

A/N: This was an interesting chapter.... maybe b/c i wanted to put so many a/n's in so that all probably killed it or made it a little more humorous. I am such a dork. Anyway REVIEW!!nd if you send me a good one, I'll answer it in the next chapter. But there'd onlt oging to be a max of 6 chapter for this thing. so START REVIEWING, DAMMIT!!