Disclaimer - Go away! I'm not breaking any copyright laws! This isn't published, it's even on a FANFICTION site! What'd you expect, me to claim any and all royalties from the making of YuuYuu Hakusho?! Geeze people . . .

A/N - Yeah . . . I hate disclaimers. They're really kind-of worthless to use on a fanfiction site, don't you think? Anyway, on to Author's Response Corner!

Rem Redi Okami - Hey! Glad to see you discovered my story! :D Much happiness. Anyway, I know the storyline is confusing. If it helps any, the parts where the guy attacks her are dream sequences. If I said any more, I might ruin the story for you ::wink::
AmaiKyuti - Foreshadowing rawks. Thanks for keeping up with the story, I really appreciate it. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Hopefully this chapter will confuse you more XD No, I just hope you like it :D
Thorns-and-Wind - I missed you too, Katy! ::hugs:: Glad to have my fans back. :D They are so rare, you know. Thanks for the compliment, love it muchos. Anyway . . . yep, things will work out through the story, so keep reading and that'll answer your questions. I had a lot of fun with my friend too. I heart her. Why do my evil cackles end in a coughing fit? Because I'm not evil enough at heart. XD

Yay! How about that! People to answer to! You make me a very happy little girl indeed. :D See me smile? Tee hee. So, that's about it on this end. How about a helping hand?

Recap: Just as he finished, I thought of something peculiar.

"Hey Death–" I asked slowly, thinking about how I was going to word my inquiry, "Why did you save me?"


Onegai
Chapter 11 - Roses are Red

He stared at me with gloomy eyes that seemed to change from a cheerful lavender to a clouded grey, visibly thinking about the question I had just asked. His facial expression went to ineffable desperation as he went to the porch steps and sat solemnly, looking now at the red snow that covered the ground. His eyes sparkled with tears when I heard him angrily shout, "It doesn't matter!" so loudly that the birds stopped singing. Grabbing my arm, he pulled me down the porch steps, "Let's go!"

"Wait, stop--" I stammered, trying to sway my arm from his grip, "Wait–Eimin!" I screamed, my arm still a wriggling worm. He stopped short and his arm began to quiver.

As he let go, he spun around and wrapped his arms around my neck, crying into my shoulder. He spoke as he sobbed, but I didn't understand his words as they were interrupted by loud sniveling from a congested nose. When I began to pull him into a hug, he let go and fell to his knees, weeping convulsively as he put his hands to his face, covering it from view. His childlike manner caused pity in the deepest pits of my heart as I realized I knew him from somewhere before–this was not my first time meeting Eimin. My body found its way to a kneel in front of him as I took him close to my chest and enveloped him into my arms, which seemed to me to be the thing that came most naturally. "It's okay," I spoke tranquilly, trying to comfort him though I didn't know why, "Don't worry–you'll be okay." I hugged him tightly as he took his hands under my arms and up around my shoulders, burying his face in my breast and whimpering. My head leaned on his as we rested together, and I couldn't tell when he stopped gasping for air and fell asleep. As soon as I noticed he was quiet (and as I was quite drowsy myself), I gently picked him off of my body as I lulled, "Eimin–Eimin, wake up."

He slowly opened his swollen eyes. "Let's go inside," I said sweetly, getting up and helping him. Leading him by the hand, I walked back up the steps and to the couch, sitting him down and arranging the pillows for him as he lay down on them, instantaneously falling back asleep. I watched his innocent face as he slept. He looked so beautiful. I had to fight off the urge to sit beside him on the couch and nestle with the untainted goodness that was this boy. After a moment of internal argument, I removed his shoes and walked around bewildered and lost, looking for a blanket. I found one in a closet not too far down the hall and quickly returned to the couch, but was surprised to find that we weren't the only two in the house.

-

I dropped the blanket at my feet in shocked silence as I clasped my hand over my mouth to contain any noise from within me. The crimson orbs wandered around the room before stopping on my body, gazing from the blanket laying on the floor up to my bulging eyes and covered lips, then returning to Eimin, who was now curled into a fetal position on the couch. "Lovely, isn't he–" he spoke, taking one of his hands and tamely brushing the hair out of the sleeping child's face. His own, black as night, hung in front of his ears as he turned and stared at me, smiling with the malevolence of the demon he was. I backed away until I ran into a closet door, still stunned at the presence before me, the same man that had harassed me while I was dreaming. All of my night visions from the past few nights were coming true; next thing I know I'd probably be watching flying bunnies attack with laser cannons outside. Spinning around, I ran down the hallway to be met at the end by him, still grinning as if I had gone in one big circle and ran into him again. "Where are you going?" he spoke mildly, with amusement in his voice. I turned, but there he was again, smirking just the same.

"Who–are you–?" I stuttered, taking a few steps back from him. His fangs were protruding from his grin as he took another skip forward and entwined his arms around my neck. His head was tilted downward so he could look into my eyes, seeing as he was quite tall and I was only average–my eyes only met about to his nose. The wind outside howled now, making the rose petals whirl into a vortex before slowly floating back to the ground. The birds had stopped whistling and all the other animals had abandoned the floor for their treetop homes and sheltered underbrush.

"I already told you that I am you," he whispered, his head drifting down as he touched my ear with his nose. "You smell so good–"

"Get. Off." I demanded, taking his neck within my hand and jostling him a few feet away, his necklace scraping across my wrist. The floorboards creaked beneath him as he caught his balance, looking at me partially stunned and partially furious. Eimin could be heard in the background snoring softly, sometimes giving a few words in his sleep about random things. I snarled at the new intruder the best I could as I shoved through him to where the blanket lay and gently covered my slumbering companion. As soon as I dropped the last corner, a thrust rushed over me in a tidal wave of pain and fear as I was thrown into the nearby wall, hitting my head on the wood and falling into a heap of bone and flesh on the floor.

"How dare you," he whispered again, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up off the floor and to his own eye level. "I've looked out for you all these years and you–you wench!" he screamed, releasing me and letting my body fall into the same pile of skin, my heavy head landing on one of my outstretched arms. It throbbed more and more with each tick of the clock, sending whimpers into the air around us. I thought I was going to pass out when I heard a voice, very unfamiliar to me–very masculine and low. I strained to make out who it was, trying to open my eyes and catch a glimpse of who was speaking. All I was able to do was listen to the conversation.

"Leave her alone, Kamihana." the unknown voice boomed with power, apparently to my attacker.

"Don't call me that, you traitor!" he bellowed back, sounding weak against the voice I had just heard. "She deserves it! Everything I've done for her and she treats me like–like that man you left her with!"

"Silence, fool. She doesn't remember anything about you. She doesn't even remember your name."

"Wh–What?" the newly-named Kamihana spoke, quite surprised at the statement the other had just made.

"Be still. We cannot be sure if she is listening. We cannot risk her hearing another word of this conversation." he breathed quietly, but still authoritatively. The floorboards creaked as someone reached down and touched my injured skull. I screamed in utter agony. "She needs treatment. This may be serious." the newcomer spoke deterring and quietly, much closer than he was before. My body went limp as I felt someone lift me from the frozen floor, guessing it was the one who was concerned about my new head trauma. He had a very soft touch, actually, much to my surprise–it was the same as Eimin's . . .

I remember it all perfectly; not exactly what you would expect from someone suffering from a head injury. The creaking of the floorboards before hearing another door slide open, then more squeaking as I was placed on a mattress. Fluffing pillows in the background before my head was placed on top of them as he grabbed my hand and caressed it with the gentleness of a new mother. His other hand was placed on my forehead, which I was currently perspiring from.

"It's not serious," Kamihana said sternly. "She's faking. She was never this weak."

My hand was released as I heard more screeching from the floor, along with a few footsteps away from me, "Kamihana, please. This is not the same girl, no matter how much she looks or acts the part. The Legna you knew has been erased. Please," my savior pleaded strongly, a heavy exhale following, "please leave this room. I cannot trust you around her at this time."

Kamihana did not reply for a long time. I saw in my head that there was a stupefied look on his face, refusing to believe anything he heard. His feet shuffled, getting further and then closer, a sound that I thought could be pacing. Disbelief could even be heard in his hardly audible grumbling. Then, during one of his paces, he stopped, farther away than any time before. "Eimin," he said, his voice trembling as if he was on the verge of tears, "I don't trust you. You are lying, I know it. She's not gone; she can't be–" he said, inhaling heavily through his mouth as if his nose couldn't be of use, "I don't believe it!"

I didn't believe it either. How could this new, omnipotent man be the same sweet, innocent boy that was sleeping not more than ten minutes before? The door slammed as my attacker walked farther and farther away, until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. Eimin sighed lightly as I struggled to grab his hand, opening my eyes ever so slightly to see where I was reaching, and also to prove to myself that this was, indeed, the same sweetheart as before. He smiled sadly as he grabbed my hand in both of his own and kneeled next to the bed, looking me straight in the eye.

"I'm so, so sorry Legna–" he said, in the new voice I had just associated as being his. The look I was trying to pull off was disbelief, but I think it came off as undesirable pain. His maternalistic movements brought him to standing at the head of the bed, placing the back of his hand on my forehead and then on one of my cheeks, the same way I had seen some parents check to see if their children had fevers when they said they felt sick. I wanted to grab his hand again and just have him hold me reassuringly. It came out as a grunt. "She has a fever," he said to himself, contemplating what he was going to do. I was falling in and out of consciousness as I tried to focus on his face, but he floated to the foot of the bed and pulled a quilt over top of my body, arguing aloud with himself on whether or not to get me out of the clothes I was dressed in. He chose to leave me as I was and just rushed to the door, pulling it open and walking into the hallway, turning toward where we had come from.

I don't think he saw, but before he turned into the hallway and I fell completely into slumber, I was reaching out for him to come back.


A/N - Aw . . . I wanna cry. Poor Legna . . . she's just trying to be nice! In her own, abused sort of way . . . really, she's a sweetie! You just have to give her a chance! ::bawls::

Random Readers: O.o . . . ::giant step backwards::

Well it's true! ::sob:: I'm sorry, I'm quite emotional right now. I love Legna a lot, considering some of her . . . er, MOST of her personality is based on me. She's not very trusting but she'll fight for her friends until the end, and she doesn't take crap from anybody even though she's physically very weak. And, well . . . I hate when people are mean to her! I know, I know, I wrote the story . . . but still . . .

Aw, whatever. I'm just an insane weirdo. ::smiles stupidly and takes baseball bat into The Meadow of Happy Dancing Rabid Bunnies that Kill People::