Touya stood up rather abruptly, while packing away his guitar and some of the electronic equipment. He had finally recognized that annoying, tiny wisp of youki. He hadn't expected to ever see that particular trace again, and had no desire to now. It had been so long, and what with the energy of the concert, he hadn't been able to recognize the youki, and its faintness didn't help. Jin was back.
He turned towards the scrap of youki, and conveniently, Yusuke was looking the same way. Both saw a flash of red curls and dulled sapphire eyes that widened in alarm. Touya looked in shock at Jin's fleeing shadow, and Yusuke trembled in anger, having also recognized Jin's youki. Even though he hadn't learned it at the dark tournament, Jin's distinctive traces had been left on Touya for weeks after the rape, and still hung faintly around the red imprint of his hand on Touya's cheek. It was enough for Yusuke to recognize it to be the same person, even if he didn't know it was Jin.
"What could he be doing here?" Touya pondered.
"Let's find out. Hey Hiei, Kuwabara, you guys close up shop for us, okay? We have something of an errand to run." Yusuke called out the latter, whispered the former.
"Romantic escapade?" Hiei called back.
Touya blushed. "Not really. Just got some business to take care of." Yusuke called back, taking Touya's hand. "Let's go, quick."
They walked till they were out of sight, then chased after Jin, easily tracking his youki among all the pathetically weak ningen ki. Eventually he ran into an alley. Only if he flew would he be able to escape, which would be like raising a red flag in enemy territory. Instead, he tried to hide behind a bunch of trashcans, breathing shallowly.
Yusuke scowled. Did Jin think they were that stupid? Or was he just not thinking straight? Probably the later of the two. Yusuke kicked over the trashcans, revealing a shaken Jin.
"What brings you here? Round two with Touya? You run off because you realize I'm not about to let you hurt him again?" Yusuke asked; his face warped with malice and utter disgust. Touya looked confused and angry.
Jin stood shakily. "No, na' tha' Urameshi. A' jus'... wan'ed ta' see he was happy... I didn' inten' on botherin' either o' ya'. A' had planned... if Touya was happy, A' woulda' left him alone. An' if he wasn't... A' dunno... I wanted to apologize. Please Touya, forgi' me, A' was so drunk. Reisho tol' me la'er, tha' I beat ya'. A' swear it, I'll ne'er drink again! A' dun care if ya' dun' wanna stay wi' me, A' un'erstan'; if ya'll jus' forgi' me!"
Touya looked at Jin incredulously; distaste becoming more apparent by the passing minutes. "Forgive you... for what did you say?" Touya asked, hackles raised, his voice biting like the ice he controlled.
"Fer... Fer beatin' ya'... Af'er the Dark Tournamen'..." Jin answered, confused.
Touya's eyes actually blazed, and he finally tore off the veil concealing his lower face, revealing the unfading imprint of Jin's hand. "See the token you left on me? Just a physical reminder, every day, to me and Yusuke, and anyone who sees me, of what you did. And it was not just a beating. Oh no, if that was all you did I could have coped, easily; beatings are something I'm quite used to, in fact. No, you raped me, you drunken son of a bitch!" he yelled. Even Yusuke was surprised, but proud, of his outburst, and Jin cowered, his precious winds beginning to form around him, protectively encircling him.
"A'... A' didn'; A' would ne'er..." Jin mumbled, desperately trying to ignore it, but the memories began crying out to him, first quietly, and he tried to quench their voices.
"You did. Do you know just How much that hurt me? Even just being raped I could deal with, but it was you. With Gama dead, you were the only one left at the time that I thought I could trust. You, Gama, and my mother had been the only ones to ever show me any compassion until Yusuke found me. I loved you you stupid, stupid, bastard! And you, you RAPED ME! While you were tracking me down, did you ever listen to some of the songs I've written and sang? They're all about you, you know. How you shamed me and hurt me. How I can't help but die inside when I think of you, that someone who mattered so much to me would hurt me so much? Guess what, you found me, and I'm glad to have you out of my life. All this time I'd hoped you were dead so I wouldn't have to meet with you again, like this! Why don't you leave me the fuck alone?"
Jin felt tears gather at his eyes, tears that were hot and slow to fall, like acid down his cheeks. He felt the air growing colder with Touya's anger, as his youki naturally tried to fight for him. The memories all resurfaced now, blocked by drink and the desire to forget. He moaned in horror. "A' rem'ber now. Oh ma' god, Touya... A', A'm so sorry! A', A' know ya can't forgi' me now. Oh god... A'll ne'er drink again; A' know ya' can't forgi' me, but please, could ya' jus', jus' acknowledge my apology?"
Touya's rage seemed to disappear, though both Yusuke and Jin knew he was just hiding it. He now spoke and acted just like his element he controlled, ice, and the air grew still colder, as icicles began to form from ledges and Yusuke's and Jin's breath rose in little puffs. "You're such a moronic, drunken, asshole. You don't deserve to be called scum, and you certainly don't deserve my acknowledgement. You're not worth me wasting so much energy and emotion on. You couldn't even remember your own crime, not even after almost a year. Stupid, drunk fool. I don't believe you can give up drinking, and I don't believe you realize just how deep the scar runs. It'll take more than a bandage to fix. And I don't want you to fix it. Yusuke does a much better job of tending wounds than you ever did, with all your clumsiness."
Each word cut Jin like a knife, and he cringed as each fell from Touya's lips. Tears streamed openly from his eyes now, and his ears, already much droopier than Touya remembered ever having seen them, fell further with each harshly monotone word. He had been a bit hunched with timidity before, but now it seemed he was trying to hide himself from the world. "Yer righ'. Ya' always wer'," Jin choked out a slight, nostalgic laugh. "A' dun deserv' ta' even look at ya'. If there's no more ya' wanna say, than A'll go ahea' an' leave. A'll go far away, an' A'll not bother ya' again. I swear it. If A' do, A'll bare ma' throat fer ya' two ta' slit." Sobs choked his words, but Touya was cold as his element, and Yusuke quite nearly.
"No, I think I'm done. Let's go please, Yusuke. You know how I dislike trash." Touya said, a last biting insult striking Jin hard, a final reminder. Yusuke nodded, "I agree. We still have our stuff to put away."
Jin huddled in a corner of the alley, but then a last thought struck him. "Las' thin'..." he asked, voice quivering. Touya turned and glared at him. Jin gulped. "Ya' said tha' mark on yer face was a constan' remin'er. Do ya... wanna... give me something to remin' me?"
"No Jin. I don't want to touch you. I don't want to have anything in common with you. And if I start, I won't stop till you're dead. And I don't want your filthy, corrupting, violent, sake-drenched blood on my hands." Touya replied, icy as ever.
Jin cringed again with each one of these new insults. He pushed himself into the corner of the alley where the walls meant, sliding down and curling into the fetal position as Touya turned again and he and Yusuke left, Yusuke draping an arm protectively over Touya's shoulders.