Disclaimer- Yeah, over Thanksgiving break I went out and bought YYH. For two dollars. And two cents. And a peanut.
AN- Five whole entire reviews in one day! Plus two later. FOR A TOTAL OF SEVEN! Whee!! (spazzes in circles…) Gomen ne.
Wah… (eats hand) I can't think of any cute lyrics… I'm kind of in a hurry to get this written… so here's something irrelevant (only the first line has anything to do with anything…)
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donna koto mo yareba dekiru tte mono ja nai
dakedo muri o shichaou
jibun o koetai kara
kanarazu tsukamaeru saikou no shiawase
it's not like you can do anything if you just do it
but I'll still do more than I can handle
because I want to surpass myself
I'll definitely achieve the greatest happiness
(Winner (Fushigi Yuugi))
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People are very good at seeing only what they expect to see. They shape their own views of the world, finding a way to express anything and everything so that it suits them. Failing that, they even ignore what happens, since it cannot be real.
"There must be a reason."
Shuuichi, sheltered as his life had been, could not comprehend what was happening, even as he helped bandage Hiei's wounds. He knew that people were nice, and therefore it was implausible that Hiei's father would have done something like that. It would be okay. He would go home after this, and the next day at school Hiei would be all better. Of course, if that didn't work, there was always the possibility that Hiei's father had never hurt him in the first place.
It took him all of twenty seconds to convince himself that Hiei was lying.
"Nee, Hieisan."
"What?"
"Did your father really do this?" Alas, Shuuichi, ever the sparkling conversation-starter.
Hiei, still careful not to move his body, rolled his eyes in an exaggerated expression of disgust. "You stay quiet for five minutes, and this is what you come up with? Nah, my 'dad' didn't do this. I actually skipped school so's I could go to the zoo and fling myself into a herd of elephants. I do it every year as a birthday present to myself, as a matter of fact."
"You did no…" He stopped short. "It's your birthday?"
He smiled almost maniacally, the intense irony spilling over. "Yesterday was my sweet sixteen. Not that Daddy dearest had the grace to remember."
"So- sonna…" (1)
Hiei's smile settled into a more real one. For a moment he looked almost… happy. "Ah, well he's always been a horrible person. No love lost, what can I say. Nobody's ever really liked me; I'm used to it."
"That's not…" Understanding dawned on Shuuichi's face. That was why he hadn't wanted Yukina to know about him. He thought she would be like all the other people in his life, whose behavior seemed to justify the idea. And Shuuichi, in his naïve belief that everything could be made okay, resolved to really tell Yukina the first chance he got, no matter how Hiei protested.
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"Takahashisan?"
Hiei looked up, curious. What could Yukina possibly want with him?
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"Minamino!!!!!" Hiei glared daggers at the pretty redhead coming out of the school building.
"Nani yo?"
"You told Yukina she was my sister," he hissed, dragging the other boy off to a place where he could yell to his heart's content. "I told you not to do that! I told you I told you I told you!"
Shuuichi looked down on him with the most innocent look imaginable. "What could possibly make you think that I did it?"
"What makes me-------" He stood back for a moment to fume. "I told you not to do that. Why the hell would you?"
"I…" To Shuuichi, the whole deal had been perfectly clear. Yukina needed to know, and Hiei would be happy once he knew that he no longer had to hide the truth from her. "I wanted to show you she wouldn't hate you."
"What gave you the authority, huh?"
"I saw you yesterday, and… God, Hieisan, I just wanted to help."
"What yesterday?" Hiei's eyes became so dangerous that Shuuichi cowered instinctively. "And I don't need any help. Not from you."
The way he said the word made Shuuichi feel lower than pond scum. Tears began to well up in his once shining green eyes, and Hiei immediately felt slightly remorseful.
"Please don't cry; I didn't mean what I said… PLEASE don't cry… What are you, a girl? Oh no, I didn't mean that either…"
Shuuichi sniffed a little louder than was actually necessary.
"Look, I'm really really sorry. REALLY sorry. I swear I didn't mean anything I said. Besides that I'm sorry. 'Cause I am. Come on, stop crying… What's it going to take to shut you up, huh?"
"You're so bad, Hieisan…"
"I'm bad? Who exactly is it who's sitting there sobbing because he told a secret he said he wouldn't tell? You're laughing now! Why are you laughing? You were crying all of two seconds ago!"
Shuuichi grinned stupidly, face still streaked with tears. "You're horrid at making people feel better, you know that?"
"That's not my problem!" Hiei swore, going on a miniature rampage through the street. "You are so darned annoying, Minaminokun. See if I ever tell you anything aga---- Iteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The wound on his side reopened, and he fell down with a distressingly loud thud. "Look what you made me do, you little freak!"
The crystal tears came back to Shuuichi's eyes. How could he have forgotten Hiei's condition… But he knew that wasn't the question. It's so easy to forget something if it isn't real. He ran to help Hiei up, nearly falling himself in the process. "Gomen nasai!"
"Don't you start apologizing," Hiei ordered, still trying to stand up of his own accord. It may have hurt like anything, but he had a stubborn pride that would have been the envy of anyone who didn't know what he had endured to develop it. "I don't have time for this; I have to get home like right now."
"You're going home? But…"
"You think this is the first time something like that happened?" he scoffed. "Of course I'm going home. It'll be worse if I don't. Be serious. Where else could I possibly go?"
"You could…"
"Yeah, for maybe a week," Hiei broke in before Shuuichi could finish his sentence. "Then what? Your mother wouldn't let me stay forever." He sighed. "Some things you can't really change, ya know?"
"But your father's…"
"You can't do anything about it. See you around, Minamino."
Shuuichi watched his retreating back for the longest time, thinking. Sure, maybe he was on the idealistic side, but he rather thought Hiei was too cynical. Surely there was some way to get Hiei out of what he had to put up with…
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(1) "sonna" is an absolutely Japanese word. It means "that sort of", and is kinda an expression of disbelief. The understood context is "that sort of thing (is so horrid)". It's often (wrongly) translated as "that".
Jeez, every chapter is on the short side… oh well, I tend to like ending it at this kind of place. Hmm… things are changing… Hiei's rather nice to Shuuchan now… sort of, anyways. Okay, the next chapter will be 2,000 words if I have to beat myself over the head and update twenty days late to do it. HA.
Ehehe… thanks for all the reviews, by the way, they've really made me happy happy. どおおおもありがとうございました!
