Truth Be Told
By: Anikara
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and none of its characters.
Hello everyone, I've updated a new chapter. Sorry it took a while, I was busy in school with all sort of things, you know, the homework, tests, studying, etc. There's no yoai in his chapter, but be warned for it will happen, eventually. Sigh, I noticed that I sill left errors in my second chapter, even after I edited it; I'm hopeless. Well, sorry to those who had to read through all my errors, will try harder next time and I hope this chapter doesn't do the same. ' Well here ya go, enjoy :3!
Chapter Three: Upraise ofEmotionsThe moonlight stroked Hiei's face as he stood upon a tree. The wind was gentle tonight as it blew on Hiei's hair and past his body. His eyes narrowed and a frown crossed his features. He had just been through several rounds of overlooking the entire forest searching for the demon that Yusuke foolishly let escape. No success came from it.
'Damn,' he cursed to himself. 'How fuckin far can a low class apparition go?'
Frustrated he decided at long last to use the powers of his Jagan. Hastily he raised his hands to his forehead, touching the ward that lay protectively over his Jagan. His fingers traced over the edges of the ward as he removed it from its' place.
The strip of cloth began to blow fiercely on his hand as winds gathered around him, sensing the majestic powers the Jagan illuminated. The winds shook the trees, making the leaves and branches rustle together. Slowly, his Jagan awoken, opening its' eye to the outside world. Upon full power, Hiei opened his eyes and smirked.
'No demon can escape the invasion of my Jagan'
His Jagan as well as his eyes gazed over the trees, scanning for any trace of the demon's location. Seconds passed as he found his mark at a close distance, actually moderately close to the kitsune's ningen home.
"Enough play time, I want some answers," he called out to himself after he departed in a blur as he entered the darkness of the night.
Yusuke groaned as he walked to his apartment. It was 9 p.m., a little too early for him to be retiring home; well at least he thought so. The neighborhood was quiet and not many were out. He had only encountered three people on his way and all three gave him odd looks.
"Hm, they're just jealous," he muttered to himself. His hand went up to his face as he gently touched the bruise that was forming on his eye. His hair was muddled, no longer the hair that was silky gelled back, his clothing were torn, a few burns were on his chest, and he had a bright red mark of inflammation on his right cheek.
"Damn Coward (referring to the one that one that escaped), relying on flames to win his battles," he ranted as he walked across the street to his apartment building.
"I had him just where I wanted him, screeching in fear, when a damn rock hits me in the back of my head."
"He never stood a chance, he just got lucky, I would have,"
"Yusuke!" a voice bombard above his head.
"Aaaggghhhh," he screamed as he looked above him. "Botan, you witch, you scared the hell out me, what did you do that for!"
Botan was a few feet above, hovering on her oar. She giggled and gave Yusuke a smile. Then her expression turned serious.
"Did you kill the group of demons, Yusuke?"
Yusuke laughed nervously. " Uuhhh, yeah, except for one," he said as scratched the back of his head.
Botan got excited. "So you caught the demon with the information, right, where is he?"
"Eh heh, he kind of escaped."
Botan's smile faded and was replace with a twitching eye and a glare towards Yusuke.
"Did you get the information from the demon before he escaped?" She asked hopefully.
"Heh, heh, no, but I swear Botan I had him where I wanted when suddenly a rock hit me, catching me off guard, heh, it sort of knocked me out," he said as a sweat drop formed.
"A rock, eh," Botan said, her eyes narrowing. " WHY THE HECK DIDN'T' YOU GO STRIAGHT TO SPIRIT WORLD," she yelled losing control. She landed on the ground, her oar vanishing.
"Get off my back, it was Kurama's turn to go to the toddler, not mine."
"Yusuke, it doesn't matter whose turn it was, you should have called me on the communicator or gone to spirit world to report"
Botan stopped as she realized a few people were staring at them. She paled and realized what she said out loud. She turned to Yusuke and glared at him.
"What! You were the one who said it."
"Lets go somewhere we can talk in private," she said, ignoring Yusuke's comment.
Some people turned and continued to walk off while a few decided to remain and gape at them. Yusuke noticed this.
"What the hell ya staring at, don't know how to mind ya damn business," he yelled aggravated.
People turned around in embarrassment and left the odd pair, walking home on an early night.
"Yusuke!" Botan said with shock.
"What!"
"Never mind, lets go to your apartment, I'm afraid Koenma-sama won't be happy with the bad news."
Together they headed towards the apartment walking side be side.
Kurama stirred and woke up after an hour of sleep. He glanced at his clock it read 9 p.m. He picked himself up and groaned when he sat upwards. The gash he had was deep, he still failed to see how the demon touched him without his knowledge. He got off bed and looked himself in the mirror. He looked terrible; his eyes were tired from lack of sleep. They were some visible bruises, but the swelling went away. He smirked, that would never happen with a regular human in such a short period of time, his body healed faster than that of a average human. Since the age of ten when he regained his powers, his blood turned to that of a demon, although he did keep some human features within him.
He was filthy, he noticed, with blood of his own and those that he slaughtered along with sweat, mud, and traces of the rain. He walked towards his closet and took out some clothes along with a fresh towel.
"I seriously need a warm bath," he said to himself and walked to the restroom in his bedroom.
Shiori was downstairs in the living room when she heard the shower turn on above. 'Shuuichi's awake,' she thought.
She gazed up, her eyes showing sadness in them. 'Shuuichi, what are you keeping from me.'
"Mom, are you okay," she heard her stepson call out.
Shuuichi-kun was at the doorway of the living room, he had come downstairs to get a snack to munch on when he saw his step mom staring at the ceiling, deep in thought, and a hint of sadness in those beautiful eyes she had. He knew she was thinking of her son.
"Yes honey, I'm okay, I was just thinking."
"About Shuuichi, huh."
She smiled sadly at him and nodded. Shuuichi-kun looked at her, hurt of what she was going through. 'Shuuichi didn't mean to make mom sad, I'm sure of that; he loves her after all. I've seen the way he's so protective over her and the way he always tries to put a smile on her face, he always succeeds too.' He suddenly thought of his real mother and felt guilt that he didn't show the same dedication that Shuuichi did his mom; he envied Shuuichi for that. 'I'm sorry mother that I was unable to show you how much I appreciated you; I promise that I won't make the same mistake again. I mean, I have another chance of having a mother again, not my birth mother of course, nobody could ever replace you, but a mother I can rely on. I feel a love towards her. Please do forgive me.'
Shiori saw that her stepson was in deep thought and he looked heartbroken. She walked towards him and pulled him into a warm hug.
"What's wrong darling, did I upset you?"
"No mom, its not that, I was…I mean, I was just thinking of my mother," he stuttered as a tear dropped down. "I was just thinking how…I never showed her how much I appreciated her for being my mother and for …being there. I see the way Shuuichi treats you, with so much love and care. I never did show that to… my mother."
He began crying, shuddering on Shiori's arms. She looked down at him with kindness in her eyes, stroking his hair.
After a few minutes he calmed down and relaxed. He broke free of Shiori's arms.
"Thanks, I really needed a shoulder to lean on."
Shiori smiled. "Honey, remember that I'm always here for you. I know that I'm not your birth mother, but I love you like if you were my own. I'm sure your mother knew that you loved her dearly, not even death could take that away. Not many teenagers show they're appreciation towards their parents. Shuuichi happens to do so, I believe its because of his maturity," she told him. "Sometimes I wonder about him," she said with a chuckle.
Shuuichi-kun smiled. 'Thanks mom.'
"Are you mad at Shuuichi?"
"Of course not, I know he didn't do it intentionally, besides who could prevent an unknown attack. Shuuichi doesn't even know how to fight"
They both heard the shower upstairs turn off and at the same time the front door opened. Hatanaka, Shiori's husband and Shuuichi-kun's father, came in and scooped his life in a big hug and a light kiss in the cheek.
He looked at his son, who had red puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks, and then turned back to his wife, who had a sad expression on her face.
"Why such sadness, did something happened?" he asked in worry.
"My son, Shuuichi, was attacked by a gang earlier. He came home with injuries, bruising, and swelling. The worst was a deep gash he had on the side of his stomach."
Hatanaka stared with wide eyes. "Is he okay," he asked with concern.
"Yes, I think he's okay. Though I'm worried he didn't give me a full explanation and I'm afraid he keeping something from me."
"Really? Where is he now."
"He's upstairs in his room, he was asleep a while ago, but I guess he woke up and took a shower and he just barely got out when you arrived. Honey, you should have seen him. It was horrifying seeing him in that condition. He came to the house at 8 p.m. all soaked and filthy with blood and mud, even his hair use untidy, I have never seen my son that way," she said, a grave expression on her face.
Hatanaka gave her a hug and held her in his arms. Shuuichi-kun stood near by, feeling uncomfortable and left out.
"Son, why were you crying?"
Shuuichi-kun turned red with embarrassment.
"We just had one of little moments," Shiori replied for her stepson.
"I see," Hatanaka said.
'Great mom, you just gave him a clear view of our conversation,' Shuuichi-kun thought, as he turned redder.
"I think we should go talk to him?" Hatanake asked.
" Honey, give him time, besides he just came out of the shower."
"Darling, this is serious, we need to talk to him. Shuu-kun, please go to your room, okay."
Shuuichi-kun nodded as he went upstairs and closed his door.
'Man, I hate being left out,' he thought as he dropped himself over his bed.
"Lets go," Hatanaka said to his wife.
She nodded as curiosity got the better of her.
Kurama hade just finished brushing his hair and every one of those movements hurt like hell. He put his brush down and walked over to his bed. He took off the bed sheets since they got filthy when he had laid on them when he was wet and covered with blood and mud. He put them into the blue laundry basket and took out some fresh clean ones from his closet. When he finished making his bed he obtained bandages from his desk and walked to his mirror so that he could put them on properly.
He took off his shirt to observe that his wound was bleeding again. Then he heard the footsteps of two people walking up the stairs. 'Damn, not now'
He gazed at the door to wait the knocking as he went to fetch a clean shirt, but instead the door opened without his consent. He saw his stepfather walk in with his mother at his heels. 'Can't he knock,' he thought annoyed.
"Hello stepfather and mother," Kurama said politely putting aside the annoyance and anger he had just felt.
Hatanaka stopped and gawked at his stepson with his mouth opened. His stepson had several bruises and he was shirtless. He stared at Shuuichi's physical form and noticed how muscular he was. This greatly surprised him for he always thought Shuuichi to be the scrawny schoolboy that had a body as delicate as a woman (son and father think alike, ne? . )
Kurama observed the look on his stepfathers face, pure astonishment, and the same one that Shuuichi-kun had given him. 'Like father and like son, I see,' he thought with a little distaste as his the youko in him was surfacing. Kurama kept his anger in check and set aside his pride, this was his family, and he couldn't hurt them.
Shiori saw the look on her son's face, a face of annoyance. "Honey, it isn't good to stare at people," she said, knocking her husband out of the trance.
" Shuuichi, where did you get those abs, you're not even in sports, and let alone that, but you never work out!" he said in shock.
'Yes, they're defiantly related,' he thought to himself and remained quiet.
"I expect an answer young man, Shiori should have gotten answers from you the moment she saw you like that, no matter what condition you were in, are you in some gang, is that what you're keeping from us?" Hatanaka said with anger.
Kurama laid expressionless to his stepfather's outburst. "I assure you father that I am in no gang, it was just misfortunate of me to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Kurama said with a calm voice.
"Explain your physical fitness, how is it that your that muscular?"
"With the proper nutrition and fitness."
Hatanake gave him an unnerving glare. He didn't like his calmness, no teenager acted that way and no one looked like that with just the right food, one fitness class at school and a love for reading like Shuuichi did.
"No one can look like that, you just have one fitness class and you're always in the books, how is that possible. Then again you disappear a lot for long periods of time and never seem to want to join us when it comes to family vacations. I want answers, Shiori never asked for she didn't want to invade you privacy, but I have no problem with prying!"
Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly. 'An unwise decision to pry into the business of a kitsune.'
Then he heard his mother gasp and said, "Shuuichi, you're bleeding."
Kurama looked to his side and noticed blood on the floor and on around his wound. Indeed it was.
"Stepfather I must insist that we retire for the night. I must tend to my injuries and I'm tired. If you wish to ask me questions do so in the morning, but you'll only get the same information which you already know or perhaps it's a detailed version of the story in which you wish to hear, I'll be more than happy to share it with you," Kurama said. He couldn't help it he had to say some smart remark; the youko in him wouldn't allow any more explosions upon his pride or business. He got off rather easy to be honestly truthful.
Hatanaka glared at him and was about to protest when Shiori shushed him.
"Dear, please leave Shuuichi and I to talk, okay. I'll be in bed in a moment. I need to talk to my son and tend to his wound.
Hatanaka hesitated for a moment and then decided to leave displeased. 'She's too soft on him'
The door closed on them waited till they heard his footsteps walking towards his and Shiori's room.
"Mother, I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to show disrespect towards Hatanaka. I'm tired and unable to think straight, it's been a long day and mother, I'm sorry, but…I"
Shiori interrupted her son. "Honey I know that you're keeping something from me, but I can wait till your ready."
Kurama stared at her in astonishment and then a pleased smile crossed his handsome features.
"Thank you mother."
Shiori smiled and gave her son a hug.
"I'm in no gang if that helps your conscious."
Shiori laughed. "Very well, but when your ready I shall be here, remember that"
"I shall"
"Okay, lets get to those bandages."
To Be Continued…
This is where my chapter ends. I'm taking the opportunity that I don't have school to write this chapter and its finished though I'm not too pleased about it, sigh. I hope there are no mistakes in this one, heh, and I thank those for reading. I know is was a little, a lot, touchy andemotional,sorry about that, heh.Please do review.
Anikara