10 Years of Waiting
by Kurohi Tatsaki
Day 13 - Reminiscing
Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, & never will. Kurohi, Yamiryuinu, Shirokoori, and all the other original characters I and Kohaku Frost come up with are property of Beware of Mage & Tsuki Ryu Productions. Use our characters without permission and we will be pissed. Ask first; I don't think I need to tell anyone how to contact me. After all, my e-mail shows up in my bio.
Did you know my e-mail address came from when I was in a Legend of Dragoon phase?
Keaira - Yusuke and Kuwabara do NOT know about Hiei and Kurama's relationship. Kuwabara is still just as clueless as he was when he didn't know that Yukina was Hiei's sister, but Yusuke has an idea, but he just doesn't portray this. If he did, he thinks Hiei might get pissed and hack off his head... Oo
Scarby - Well, how about now? '
anime haiku - I think you might like this one, too. My only comments about this chapter is: "Thank GOD for Copy 'n' Paste"... Heh, you thought I'd say, "Cut 'n' Paste, huh?" o
I get out of school in TWO WEEKS! Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Can't wait for May 23!
Anyway, this is mostly flashback.
(thoughts of the reflecting character in a flashback)
He felt he was floating in a sea of nothingness. He couldn't hear, see, smell, or even touch anything. However, he could think... sort of. Images and pictures drifted into and faded out of his mind at their own free will. The god could hardly focus on a solitary image before it went away, only to be replaced by another.
After an eternity of waiting, another, more recent image came into his mind.
Yes, a blue dragon had come into his office, snatching him away while he was in shock.
Another image came to mind. He looked like a mere, wide-blue-eyed boy at first glance. He was fairly wise, and kinda pessimistic while believing the false.
Those eyes, hardened by pain, and yet also softened by that same element, had enraptured him at a gradual rate.
...So beautiful...
He vaguely remembered the carnival. He, Koenma, had asked to go to one of the rides.
The boy, whose name he could not remember, had merely smiled softly and offered him the money to go on. He didn't go on, himself, though. The feminine-seeming boy had simply watched him, that small smile still plastered on his face. His eyes were half-lidded, as if tired of seeing the ride move around in jerky, up and down motions.
After Koenma had recovered from the nauseating ride, the light brown-haired male offered to go onto a calmer ride. Supposedly, fast rides such as the one the god had been on made him so queasy, they would have had to turn in early. He hadn't wanted to spoil the other guy's fun.
The closest calm ride had been the Ferris wheel.
The robed Koenma seemed a bit iffy at first, but the other guy seemed almost eager to go on.
The god remembered his exact, softly said words.
"Saa, Koenma-sama... Onegai? Just this one ride?"
Though slightly bothered, he had agreed to let HIM go on, but he didn't want to go on, too.
"Demo, don't you want to see something I can never show you myself?"
"You're a demon, are you not? Cannot you fly?"
He shook his head, spikes of hair swishing gently, side to side, at the movement. "I wasn't born to fly," he said almost sadly. "This is the next best thing to running quickly."
Without a word, the gold-eyed one conceded and they both got on.
The boy was giggling all the way up. "This is so--- coool!"
Koenma snorted, holding back his own laughter.
"Just look! You can see so much..." He leaned forward slightly, as if to peek over the horizon. He seemed to want to see more than what he could. "Almost as if you're really flying, you know? Suteki da ne...?"
Koenma nodded once. "Hai... Ja, Kurohi, what do you plan to do about that case? I hate to bother you, but..."
His eyes grew clouded. "I have my links. So don't worry about it. Can we PLEASE not talk about work?" The man named Kurohi turned his head around, spikes of hair brushing unintentionally against the previously pacifier-mouthed Enma Jr's cheek.
The boy then paused. Koenma realized how close they were. There was also no room to move over, either... unless a lap counted. He felt the boy's warm breath whispering against his face. He smelled of some sort of wild flower mixed with pine and his own, unique scent.
His eyes dipped halfway closed. He breathed deeply, as if seeking some sort of... control. He stayed like that a moment, a shade in his eyes flickering in and out of sight. Finally, with a shudder, he turned back around.
The ride ended.
And so did their trip.
The memory slid out of focus, and another one came in.
Kurohi was drenched to the bone, shivering, and seemingly asleep in the most dark, most hidden corner of his office. "Kurohi, what are you doing here?"
The boy blinked and gasped softly. The gasp turned into a startled, low growl. His dragon hirui-seki stone pendant flashed rapidly. It was bright enough to be seen through his shirt.
Not to mention that if he looked, he could glimpse the boy's flesh behind the shirt.
"Sleeping," he replied tiredly.
"In here on the floor with wet clothes?" asked Koenma, pacifier still in his mouth.
"This place was closest, sir. I didn't want to bother you."
Koenma blinked. "Ah, so it WAS you that I saw come in. For a moment, I thought you were Hiei. After all, you both share the same speed."
He was silent. He closed his eyes, but it was very visible that he was conscious. He finally spoke after a while. "Why... why do you love Botan?"
Koenma frowned. "I... Well, I've known her a long, long, looonng time."
"That makes no sense, sir." He opened his eyes and stared at the god who, right now, looked like an infant. His gaze was soft and fatigued.
"How so?" the god was confused at the statement.
"Just because you've known someone for a long time, doesn't always mean that you fall in love with them. Ever heard of /love at first sight?" he asked coldly. The boy sneezed and looked away, shaking because of the cold he felt. "...y'know, I love you..." he murmured unexpectedly.
"You... you do?"
"Yes," he replied with a nod. "Despite the fact I'm not eternal. But, I AM a Dragon Youkai... Y'know, I've lasted a long, long time."
"How long?"
"Don't know." His heart pounded faster, and he seemed okay, physically. There was a pause. Koenma regarded his friend with a shadowed, golden gaze. "Sir?" asked the boy suddenly.
"Em?" He blinked.
"If... I were eternal, would you... love me?"
Koenma couldn't answer. He put himself into the teen form and thought a moment after sitting down next to and against the boy. He could easily hear the boy's quick, demonic heartbeat, and could see it with the stone around his neck and the one in his own pocket. He pulled it out.
"You cried, didn't you?" he asked, avoiding the question. "Isn't that stone around your neck also one of your tears?
He looked back at the god and nodded vaguely. "I think so... but I don't remember crying before recently and having it accumulate to such a massive size." He had spoken so softly, it created goose-bumps along the god's arms.
(...This memory...
(...Kurohi...)
"So, please tell me! I love you, I want you and..." He stopped, a deep red coloring his face. He closed his eyes a moment and looked away, staring at his blue-shoed feet. "I... I'll respect your decision that you want to wed Botan... but..." He shook his head. "Wait, there are no /buts, are there?"
He stood up and braced himself against the wall. He closed his eyes for a moment, though Koenma couldn't see it. With a soft cry, fell to the ground. His eyes were closed.
He looked dead, skin rather pale.
"K-Kurohi-chan! D-daijobu ka!" the god stammered frantically. He bent down, laid his hands onto the boy's shoulders, and flipped him over onto his back. His cream-colored hand touched his chest and lifted the pendant up, holding the pulsing figure in his hand. Only one thought about it came to his mind...
The crying baby dragon pendant was... warm.
Very warm...
Checking the pulsing, it seemed fine, and he set it back down. The boy opened his dark blue eyes and blinked, panting softly for a moment, the breath cascading across the gold-eyed boy's face. He slowly sat up and gazed at Koenma with confusion and thoughtfulness.
His own gold eyes glittered with concern, worry and fear. "K...Kurohi-chan, daijobu ka?"
"H-hai..." Something seemed to settle in his mind. "Matte... you said/Kurohi-chan/..."
Koenma was becoming uncomfortable. "Em, yeah, doshite?"
"Since you don't like me like that," he replied coldly. "then don't say /-chan/. Understood?"
"Yes, Kurohi, I understand." Inside, he was starting to question his devotion to Botan. Did he really love that girl?
"Good," he retorted even more coldly, sadness thick in his voice. He leaned against the wall, hands splayed limply outward. He closed his eyes.
"Kurohi?"
"Mmm?" Kurohi opened his eyes halfway. They were watery. He closed his eyes again and pushed himself away from the wall, moving toward the middle of the room. His hand was clenched near his side.
He was still dripping water all over the floor. It fell with the slowness of blood. The tears fell off his cheeks and clung to the jawbone in one futile attempt to remain with their master.
"You were crying... because I am engaged to Botan?"
The boy nodded; three stones fell to the floor, echoing like jewelry when they connected.
(Kurohi... you cried...)
A few more tears escaped the boy's eyes, sliding down his face, and the instant that they let go of their hold, a few more hirui-seki stones connected with the floor. His body shook with unvoiced sobs as he stood strong in the middle of the room. The god embraced the weeping boy from behind, locking his hands near the flat stomach, and rested his head on the slightly shorter boy's shoulder. A small tremor went through the embraced one's body, and he let his eyes seek the "intruder".
Blue met gold with orangy-brown flecks.
Blue eyes widened in surprise, disbelief and various other emotions evident in their depths.
Caught up in those eyes, his tongue poked out of his mouth and reversed the path of the mystical tears. Kurohi blinked at this odd behavior as he felt the warm, wet object glide gently against his already moist flesh. He sighed in conscious contentment that someone would care to comfort him when he cried, but he spoke a different tune.
"Though I don't care what the hell Botan thinks, you'd better get away from me before you get in trouble. You are, after all, bound to the oar-rider. But, just do me one thing, please..."
"What?" asked that male elegance.
"Think over your decision with Botan. Is she really the right one? Because the one I love stands before me, and, to tell the truth, I'd do anything for you..."
The memory slid out of focus again.
A recollection of their lovemaking entered his mind. Hah! "Virgin" his ass! Wait, isn't that what the "little one" did to him?
Then again, he wasn't at ALL "little"...
The bit of information left him, leaving him even more empty and confused than he'd ever been.
Without Kurohi, Koenma felt so... alone.
He felt so... cold.
Where was he?
Why couldn't he...
Kurohi blinked his large eyes. Blips of memory flashed through his mind, incoherent at first, but gradually melting into one entity...
Koenma.
/I'll get you back! I swear it/ "I swear it..." he uttered.
"Talking to yourself, again, Kurohi?" asked Hiei, perched on a branch above him.
The boy blinked, but kept his gaze fixed on the tree in front of him. Nightly bugs chirped and whistled in the background. The green underbrush obscured all sight in a matter of meters in every direction.
"Yeah... I guess..." He talked with evident depression.
"It's my shift next. I suggest you rest your mind so you don't go insane. Don't think about anything for a while. It might help."
"Why would ya wanna give ME advice, anyway?" he asked.
As Hiei shifted to a comfortable position on the tree branch, he regarded his pupil with almond-shaped red eyes. The boy refused to meet his stare. "You're my best and only student. You've learned all the things I've taught you much faster than when I, myself, ever learned them. As much as I'd normally regret to admit, you might just surpass me in the skills of sword."
"Thank you... Hiei-sama."
"Cut it out with the /-sama/. I am, and always will be/Hiei, Kurohi."
"Hmm..."
"What now?" he asked with mild exasperation.
"It's just... you never wanted me to address you without the title, you know?"
"I emphasized it because you were an amateur. Now that you are not, you do not have to use that stupid title."
"Ah. Okay. Okay, then."
A few minutes passed, and Hiei took his shift. Kurohi left the area, saying he had to do something nearby.
Kurama turned his green eyes skyward, and eyed Hiei sleepily from his position on the ground. "You want me to waaaaaah..." That last word of his was interrupted by a wide yawn.
Hiei rolled his eyes. "I said, I want you to keep an eye on Kurohi. Something in his scent hasn't been quite right since the night before. I didn't want to bother you, but now... it's hard to miss."
The fox nodded once. "Sure. I'll go chehhhh...ck on him" The fire demon rolled his eyes again, causing his koibito to grin sleepily. "That look makes you quite humorous, y'know?"
The demon blinked at the five-hundred-year-old fox. "Huh?"
"Never mind. I'll go check on him."
Standing up, the fox brushed gracefully past the half-koorime, and wandered somewhere south of the camp. After a few minutes, he considered calling the boy's name, when he came upon a clearing.
The boy was practicing with his sword. He flitted from one part of the clearing to another, then started running among the circle of trees quickly enough to create the illusion that there were two of him. "Jaou ensatsu...shinseihi-KEN!" His sword erupted into white flames, and he slashed at an invisible opponent. Bits of flame spread everywhere, but the instant they touched anything, the object that was stroked seemed to grow stronger.
The flames disappeared, and he sheathed his sword.
He's been giving off so much energy, I'm surprised he hasn't been discovered... What does he think he's doing? "Kurohi!"
He turned to the fox. His eyes betrayed how startled he felt inside. "Em?"
"What are you doing?"
"Training."
"Why so late, then?"
"I'm most mentally active," he replied, simply.
Hesitation.
"Why are you up, then?" His emphasis on "you" was light.
"Hiei was concerned and wanted me to check on you since it was his guard shift." Kurama smiled slightly. "I didn't expect you to be out here, far from the group, and training on your own... could I be of any assistance?" he asked politely. "That walk has woken me up."
"Ah, I was just going to head back."
"Oh, okay." He seemed disappointed.
"Lead the way, would you?" asked the boy.
Kurama nodded and started going back the way he came.
The boy started to follow, stopped, and turned back around to view where he had been. His passive face didn't flinch or waver as the disappointment of not being able to complete what he had intended to do settled inside his soul.
So close to learning that technique... I hope it can save Koenma once I learn it...
They call it... Kaizer Yowaihaiiro.
End Day 13
R&R!
saa come on
suteki da ne isn't it beautiful/wonderful
shinsei pure/holy
Hey, what does "jaou ensatsu" mean? I've heard Hiei say, "Jaou ensatsu... KOKURYUHAA!" and "Jaou ensatsu ken!"... so, what does it mean? It says nothing in my dictionary...
It's getting harder to come up with ideas... Me an' Kohaku Frost have a humorous chapter in mind right after Kurohi rescues Koenma, but...
Anyway, the votes stand like this:
Botan as guy: 2
Botan as gal: 2
Started 5/8/03, 4:37PM; Finished 5/9/03, 8:13PM