**
Voices filled the air around him, flowing through the darkness on the wind. Familiar images passed by his eyes, playing out scenes he'd seen so many times before. The world seemed to swirl around him, scenes flashing. Within the strange memories he saw his parents, both of whom never really looked at him with more then scorn when he still cared about attempting to recieve their attention. He'd never met his father, that he could remember, but he always pictured him as some mix of his mother and the prinicpal from his school who'd always tried to straighten him out, but even he eventually dubbed Yuusuke as a lost case.
His mother, she never seemed to care from the beginning. All Yuusuke knew of her was that she was always drunk, and if she was sober she was sleeping. Apparently the fuzzy world of alcohol was much easier to face then the reality of a son and abondonment by a man who was probably nothing more then a one night fling. She never cared about his grades, and for that matter didn't even care if he went to school, as long as she got the house to herself for most of the day. How she'd managed to live so long and remember to get groceries every week when she stumbled home from the bar was amazing. Yet the food never lasted long and Yuusuke found himself fending for himself, usually by stealing lunch from the better kids at school.
No one had ever really cared about him, ever, save for that one student he knew. And as Yuusuke relived his memories in his dreams he saw the face of one of his only friends. Shuuichi Minamino, the so called perfect student from his school. The boy who'd always brought delicious looking lunches to school, and one day Yuusuke just couldn't stand it, so he walked right up to him and stole his lunch.
Or rather, he'd tried to.
In reality Yuusuke had had his ass handed to him for attempting to steal that lunch. He'd escaped with a bruised cheek and no food to even show for his effort, meanwhile Shuuichi only really got his uniform wrinkled. And yet, even after the little scuffle, to his surprise Shuuichi shared the lunch with him anyway, giving him the bigger share.
"All you had to do was ask."
Yuusuke rolled over in his sleep and the dream changed, the memory of that first shared lunch - the first of many - shifted to him running away from home. Vague and angry recollections of a fight with his mother, who managed in her drunken state to stand up enough and yell right at him. She'd even thrown two half empty bottles at him, yelling about how he was just as horrible as his father and that she wanted nothing to do with him. The words had stung, and he'd flung them right back with just as much anger in his voice. Then at the end he'd stomped out, and never even looked back.
He hadn't even stopped to say good bye to Shuuichi.
He hadn't stopped running, not for a good year. Every place he went they eventually kicked him out. The dream played out before him, reminding him of all the places he'd tried to stay, all the people who'd eventually kicked him out when they got sick of him. He found himself running in the dream, running and running past each place, as if he were being chased, or giving chase to something in the distance which he could not see.
Then, suddenly, the ground under him disappeared and he found himself falling. The world around him flew away into darkness and he was falling, then he suddenly landed, on something soft... and living.
Yuusuke's eyes snapped open in the dream and he found himself lying on top of the youko. Piercing yellow eyes looked back up at him and the world around him suddenly filled with color and he found himself leaning over that same youko, in a bed of silky sheets and covers. The youko was under him, and he didn't have to look down to know he wasn't wearing much in the way of clothing, if anything at all.
The youko's lips tilted, ever so slightly, into a smirk and he leaned up. Yuusuke felt those warm lips brush against his own-
And suddenly he was lying in the bed, in the room he shared with Haku, staring up at the ceiling.
"Shit," he breathed out softly.
Yuusuke rolled over in the bed and sat up, gripping his knees as he trembled just a bit from the dream. A light dusting of sweat covered his body and he knew his face was red, partly from embarassment and from the dream itself. He took a moment to relax, then slipped out of the bed and stumbled through the dark as quiet as he could to grab some poor excuse for clothing. After managing to tug on a pair of pants and a loose shirt, he slipped out of the room and just set off wandering down the halls, his hands in his pockets.
It wasn't that the dream bothered him, not really. The memories and reliving bits and pieces from his past was normal, he'd dealt with dreams like that all his life, especially since he left his so called poor excuse for a home. But that last part, with the youko, that was rare. Why had he had that image?
No, wait, that was a stupid question. He'd had that part of the dream because whatever that youko was, he was sexy as hell. Even with the silver hair, the cat like ears and the long flowing tail. Add that on to the fact of his clothing which really only consisted of flowing white fabric that was almost see through, and how could one not drool over him?
Yuusuke found himself wandering farther into the club and eventually he found himself back in that strange hallway, with the themed rooms. He knew quite well that it was past midnight and the rooms were probably in use, but he couldn't resist walking thorugh the hallway anyway. So he only paused for a second to consider, then continued down the hallway, his eyes flowing over the rooms.
Rainforest clearing, damp cave with a bed of fur, a waterfall, underwater, even one that looked like it could have been on some alien world. Each room was really a masterpiece, when one bothered to look at them. Great lengths were taken to cover every facet and detail in each of the small illusions. There was paint, real water, and even plants set up to make it more realistic. Short of placing the rooms in that real enviroment and anything else that would have been costly beyond belief, each of the rooms managed to pass off for almost reality. Every time there was a request for just such a room Taski had managed to throw together a plan and list of supplies in one night, and it took two weeks tops to construct. Yuusuke had no idea how much people paid to use the rooms, but he was sure it was quite a bit. But then, people would pay quite a bit, when offered the chance to live their fantasies, whatever those may be.
Yuusuke passed by one of the rooms and stopped, surprised to find the door wide open, with only one person sitting inside. Stepping up to the door he peeked in, curious to see what was going on.
The room itself was decked out with a religious type setting, with high stained glass windows on two of the walls - with fake lights behind them to make it look like they showed the vantage of a beautiful sunset - and rich looking wooden floors with two padded benches and something that vaguely resembled an altar at the front. Why someone would want to do it in a church was beyond Yuusuke, but he didn't question it. He'd learned it was much safer to just admire the rooms for their craftmanship.
Sitting on one of the padded benches was one of the ones who regualrly joined them for breakfast. Yuusuke reconized him as Koenma, now, and knew he was Botan's twin brother, technically younger then her by about two seconds or something like that. He was currently just sitting in the chair, looking like he was listening intently to something, in spite of the fact that he was in the room alone. Yuusuke blinked as he saw the boy nod a few times, almost as if he were agreeing with some silent voice. Then Koenma turned to face him, with a curious look.
"Hey," Yuusuke said, raising a hand in greeting. "I can go back to wandering if you're busy."
Koenma shook his head. "I'm not busy, was just talking, and she's gone now."
Yuusuke wandered into the room and glanced around. "She?" He was pretty sure Koenma wasn't talking about the clients he and some of the others entertained. Very rarely were there female clients and it was even more rare that they left so early in the night.
"Her name is Mayu. She likes this room, it reminds her of her home."
"Mayu hm? I haven't seen her around at the table for breakfast. I thought Botan was the only female here." Yuusuke said, as he took a seat next to Koenma on bench. He blinked a bit and turned when he heard Koenma chuckling softly. "What's so funny?"
"You can't see her."
"Why? Is her talent to be invisable? That's a bit too kinky for even me to think about."
Koenma chuckled more and shook his head.
"Then how come?"
"Because she's dead."
Yuusuke froze at that and found himself glancing around the room again. Koenma was talking to a dead girl? But then, he supposed it actually made a bit of sense, especially considering the setting they were currently sitting in. Didn't ghosts flock to religious places? So it made sense, in a weird sort of way. Except for one thing.
"You see ghosts?"
Koenma responded with a nod. "That's my... whatever you want to call it. It's what makes me different. Normal people can't see them, and to me they look like regular people walking around. The only difference is that their skin has this strange sort of white glow. I didn't notice it for the long time and I always thought they were real people, much to the surprise of them and the other real people around me. Botan can hear them, but she can't see them. She's got that floating thing instead."
"Oh." Came Yuusuke's incredibly intelligent response. "So, that's what you're doing out here at night? Talking with them?"
"Some nights. Most nights when I'm not busy they come to my room to talk. But Mayu prefers this room."
Yuusuke nodded, still suffering from a loss of what really to say about anything. So he just sat there silently, searching through his head for some kind of subject.
"It's weird, isn't it?"
Yuusuke blinked. "Weird? What, that you can see ghosts? I don't think it's weird. To be honest it's kinda cool. I'm just a bit freaked right now because for all I know there could be millions standing around me, and I can't see them."
Koenma responded with a chuckle. "They're always around, but they can't do anything to us. It's just like passing someone unimportant on the street. You know, you see them and you forget. You don't remember unless you stop and talk to them." The small smile faded off his face as he turned to look up at the large stained glass window. "Everyone else thinks it's weird. Dead people are dead... you're not supposed to be able to talk to them."
"Well, not everyone. What about the people here-"
Koenma cut him off. "They think it's weird too."
Yuusuke remained quiet.
"Even here... talking to dead people is weird. It's ok to fly, it's ok to make icicles and it's ok to change shape and have horns and tails and even wings. But talking to dead people? No, of course not, that's too strange." Koenma was looking down at the floor now, and not at Yuusuke. After a moment he stood up. "You probably think it's weird too. I should go."
"Whoa, wait a second! I already said I thought it was cool. I mean, yeah, it's just a bit weird to know that they are all around us and I don't know if I could handle it, but I think it's a neat talent for you to have. See any cute girls or guys?"
Koenma blinked and looked up at Yuusuke. "Cute guys or girls?"
"Yeah, you know. In fact, I'd say you're pretty damn lucky. I bet that Mayu girl you were talking to is really cute. And just think, you're the only one who can talk to them, well except for the other ghosty guys that are around, but still, you've got them all to yourself-"
"Yuusuke, just stop." But Koenma didn't sound sad at all. In fact, he had a smile on his face and he was laughing. "That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."
Yuusuke just grinned in response. "That, Koenma, is what I do best."
Koenma shook his head as his laughter died down. "You're insane."
"And you're welcome."
Koenma turns and favored Yuusuke with a sincere smile on that. And both of them settled backdown to spend the rest of the night talking. Yuusuke soon forgot about his strange dream, but those same golden eyes remained burned into the back of his mind.
Voices filled the air around him, flowing through the darkness on the wind. Familiar images passed by his eyes, playing out scenes he'd seen so many times before. The world seemed to swirl around him, scenes flashing. Within the strange memories he saw his parents, both of whom never really looked at him with more then scorn when he still cared about attempting to recieve their attention. He'd never met his father, that he could remember, but he always pictured him as some mix of his mother and the prinicpal from his school who'd always tried to straighten him out, but even he eventually dubbed Yuusuke as a lost case.
His mother, she never seemed to care from the beginning. All Yuusuke knew of her was that she was always drunk, and if she was sober she was sleeping. Apparently the fuzzy world of alcohol was much easier to face then the reality of a son and abondonment by a man who was probably nothing more then a one night fling. She never cared about his grades, and for that matter didn't even care if he went to school, as long as she got the house to herself for most of the day. How she'd managed to live so long and remember to get groceries every week when she stumbled home from the bar was amazing. Yet the food never lasted long and Yuusuke found himself fending for himself, usually by stealing lunch from the better kids at school.
No one had ever really cared about him, ever, save for that one student he knew. And as Yuusuke relived his memories in his dreams he saw the face of one of his only friends. Shuuichi Minamino, the so called perfect student from his school. The boy who'd always brought delicious looking lunches to school, and one day Yuusuke just couldn't stand it, so he walked right up to him and stole his lunch.
Or rather, he'd tried to.
In reality Yuusuke had had his ass handed to him for attempting to steal that lunch. He'd escaped with a bruised cheek and no food to even show for his effort, meanwhile Shuuichi only really got his uniform wrinkled. And yet, even after the little scuffle, to his surprise Shuuichi shared the lunch with him anyway, giving him the bigger share.
"All you had to do was ask."
Yuusuke rolled over in his sleep and the dream changed, the memory of that first shared lunch - the first of many - shifted to him running away from home. Vague and angry recollections of a fight with his mother, who managed in her drunken state to stand up enough and yell right at him. She'd even thrown two half empty bottles at him, yelling about how he was just as horrible as his father and that she wanted nothing to do with him. The words had stung, and he'd flung them right back with just as much anger in his voice. Then at the end he'd stomped out, and never even looked back.
He hadn't even stopped to say good bye to Shuuichi.
He hadn't stopped running, not for a good year. Every place he went they eventually kicked him out. The dream played out before him, reminding him of all the places he'd tried to stay, all the people who'd eventually kicked him out when they got sick of him. He found himself running in the dream, running and running past each place, as if he were being chased, or giving chase to something in the distance which he could not see.
Then, suddenly, the ground under him disappeared and he found himself falling. The world around him flew away into darkness and he was falling, then he suddenly landed, on something soft... and living.
Yuusuke's eyes snapped open in the dream and he found himself lying on top of the youko. Piercing yellow eyes looked back up at him and the world around him suddenly filled with color and he found himself leaning over that same youko, in a bed of silky sheets and covers. The youko was under him, and he didn't have to look down to know he wasn't wearing much in the way of clothing, if anything at all.
The youko's lips tilted, ever so slightly, into a smirk and he leaned up. Yuusuke felt those warm lips brush against his own-
And suddenly he was lying in the bed, in the room he shared with Haku, staring up at the ceiling.
"Shit," he breathed out softly.
Yuusuke rolled over in the bed and sat up, gripping his knees as he trembled just a bit from the dream. A light dusting of sweat covered his body and he knew his face was red, partly from embarassment and from the dream itself. He took a moment to relax, then slipped out of the bed and stumbled through the dark as quiet as he could to grab some poor excuse for clothing. After managing to tug on a pair of pants and a loose shirt, he slipped out of the room and just set off wandering down the halls, his hands in his pockets.
It wasn't that the dream bothered him, not really. The memories and reliving bits and pieces from his past was normal, he'd dealt with dreams like that all his life, especially since he left his so called poor excuse for a home. But that last part, with the youko, that was rare. Why had he had that image?
No, wait, that was a stupid question. He'd had that part of the dream because whatever that youko was, he was sexy as hell. Even with the silver hair, the cat like ears and the long flowing tail. Add that on to the fact of his clothing which really only consisted of flowing white fabric that was almost see through, and how could one not drool over him?
Yuusuke found himself wandering farther into the club and eventually he found himself back in that strange hallway, with the themed rooms. He knew quite well that it was past midnight and the rooms were probably in use, but he couldn't resist walking thorugh the hallway anyway. So he only paused for a second to consider, then continued down the hallway, his eyes flowing over the rooms.
Rainforest clearing, damp cave with a bed of fur, a waterfall, underwater, even one that looked like it could have been on some alien world. Each room was really a masterpiece, when one bothered to look at them. Great lengths were taken to cover every facet and detail in each of the small illusions. There was paint, real water, and even plants set up to make it more realistic. Short of placing the rooms in that real enviroment and anything else that would have been costly beyond belief, each of the rooms managed to pass off for almost reality. Every time there was a request for just such a room Taski had managed to throw together a plan and list of supplies in one night, and it took two weeks tops to construct. Yuusuke had no idea how much people paid to use the rooms, but he was sure it was quite a bit. But then, people would pay quite a bit, when offered the chance to live their fantasies, whatever those may be.
Yuusuke passed by one of the rooms and stopped, surprised to find the door wide open, with only one person sitting inside. Stepping up to the door he peeked in, curious to see what was going on.
The room itself was decked out with a religious type setting, with high stained glass windows on two of the walls - with fake lights behind them to make it look like they showed the vantage of a beautiful sunset - and rich looking wooden floors with two padded benches and something that vaguely resembled an altar at the front. Why someone would want to do it in a church was beyond Yuusuke, but he didn't question it. He'd learned it was much safer to just admire the rooms for their craftmanship.
Sitting on one of the padded benches was one of the ones who regualrly joined them for breakfast. Yuusuke reconized him as Koenma, now, and knew he was Botan's twin brother, technically younger then her by about two seconds or something like that. He was currently just sitting in the chair, looking like he was listening intently to something, in spite of the fact that he was in the room alone. Yuusuke blinked as he saw the boy nod a few times, almost as if he were agreeing with some silent voice. Then Koenma turned to face him, with a curious look.
"Hey," Yuusuke said, raising a hand in greeting. "I can go back to wandering if you're busy."
Koenma shook his head. "I'm not busy, was just talking, and she's gone now."
Yuusuke wandered into the room and glanced around. "She?" He was pretty sure Koenma wasn't talking about the clients he and some of the others entertained. Very rarely were there female clients and it was even more rare that they left so early in the night.
"Her name is Mayu. She likes this room, it reminds her of her home."
"Mayu hm? I haven't seen her around at the table for breakfast. I thought Botan was the only female here." Yuusuke said, as he took a seat next to Koenma on bench. He blinked a bit and turned when he heard Koenma chuckling softly. "What's so funny?"
"You can't see her."
"Why? Is her talent to be invisable? That's a bit too kinky for even me to think about."
Koenma chuckled more and shook his head.
"Then how come?"
"Because she's dead."
Yuusuke froze at that and found himself glancing around the room again. Koenma was talking to a dead girl? But then, he supposed it actually made a bit of sense, especially considering the setting they were currently sitting in. Didn't ghosts flock to religious places? So it made sense, in a weird sort of way. Except for one thing.
"You see ghosts?"
Koenma responded with a nod. "That's my... whatever you want to call it. It's what makes me different. Normal people can't see them, and to me they look like regular people walking around. The only difference is that their skin has this strange sort of white glow. I didn't notice it for the long time and I always thought they were real people, much to the surprise of them and the other real people around me. Botan can hear them, but she can't see them. She's got that floating thing instead."
"Oh." Came Yuusuke's incredibly intelligent response. "So, that's what you're doing out here at night? Talking with them?"
"Some nights. Most nights when I'm not busy they come to my room to talk. But Mayu prefers this room."
Yuusuke nodded, still suffering from a loss of what really to say about anything. So he just sat there silently, searching through his head for some kind of subject.
"It's weird, isn't it?"
Yuusuke blinked. "Weird? What, that you can see ghosts? I don't think it's weird. To be honest it's kinda cool. I'm just a bit freaked right now because for all I know there could be millions standing around me, and I can't see them."
Koenma responded with a chuckle. "They're always around, but they can't do anything to us. It's just like passing someone unimportant on the street. You know, you see them and you forget. You don't remember unless you stop and talk to them." The small smile faded off his face as he turned to look up at the large stained glass window. "Everyone else thinks it's weird. Dead people are dead... you're not supposed to be able to talk to them."
"Well, not everyone. What about the people here-"
Koenma cut him off. "They think it's weird too."
Yuusuke remained quiet.
"Even here... talking to dead people is weird. It's ok to fly, it's ok to make icicles and it's ok to change shape and have horns and tails and even wings. But talking to dead people? No, of course not, that's too strange." Koenma was looking down at the floor now, and not at Yuusuke. After a moment he stood up. "You probably think it's weird too. I should go."
"Whoa, wait a second! I already said I thought it was cool. I mean, yeah, it's just a bit weird to know that they are all around us and I don't know if I could handle it, but I think it's a neat talent for you to have. See any cute girls or guys?"
Koenma blinked and looked up at Yuusuke. "Cute guys or girls?"
"Yeah, you know. In fact, I'd say you're pretty damn lucky. I bet that Mayu girl you were talking to is really cute. And just think, you're the only one who can talk to them, well except for the other ghosty guys that are around, but still, you've got them all to yourself-"
"Yuusuke, just stop." But Koenma didn't sound sad at all. In fact, he had a smile on his face and he was laughing. "That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."
Yuusuke just grinned in response. "That, Koenma, is what I do best."
Koenma shook his head as his laughter died down. "You're insane."
"And you're welcome."
Koenma turns and favored Yuusuke with a sincere smile on that. And both of them settled backdown to spend the rest of the night talking. Yuusuke soon forgot about his strange dream, but those same golden eyes remained burned into the back of his mind.