Yu Yu Hakusho Inversed
Chapter 20
October 28, 2005

"Where is my son?" Atsuko Urameshi demanded. The nurse gestured down the hall, and she shoved past her. "Yusuke!" she exclaimed when she saw her son lying in the hospital bed. "Oh my gosh; you're filthy!"

"Well, we didn't really have access to showers," Yusuke replied.

"Are you okay?" she asked, practically as an afterthought.

"Yes, Mom. Could you ask one of the doctors or nurses how Keiko and Kuwabara are?"

"I don't understand how you can be so concerned about them," his mother said distastefully. "She's a tramp; he's a hoodlum, and they-"

"Are my friends," interrupted Yusuke firmly. "Could you please just go check on them?"

Atsuko rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. I'll be back in a little bit, got it?" Yusuke nodded. Atsuko went into the hall, almost knocking down another woman as she did so. "Watch where you're going!" she barked, casting a scornful eye over this girl and her clothes.

Yukina glared. "Bitch," she muttered as she continued on her way. She peered into the window of every room she passed by- rousing the scrutiny of several hospital staff members, whom she ignored- until she turned a corner and collided with the person on the other side, resulting in both parties becoming more acquainted with the floor.

"Sorry," the Koorime said, brushing aqua strands back from her face. Her hair tie, stretched and worn from much use, had come loose.

"That's okay," Kuwabara said, rising to his feet and brushing himself off. "I don't watch my step as often as I should. Hey," he said, seeing her face, "you were at the garage."

"Yeah," she replied. "Do you know where everyone was placed?"

He shrugged. "I probably shouldn't even be out here, but those hospital rooms are so damn boring that I had to freaking escape, you know?"

She laughed, but over the carrot-top's shoulder she saw a woman who rather resembled Nurse Ratchet approaching them. "Uh, I think we're busted; we'd better split."

"Yeah. And if anyone asks, you didn't see me." They separated and began walking in opposite directions. "Oh wait!" Kuwabara exclaimed, having noticed something red on the dull-colored floor. "Your tie-thingy."

"Um, you keep it," Yukina called, having found the room whose occupant she'd been searching for.

"Uh, thanks," Kuwabara muttered, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with a scrunchie.

Yukina made to go inside when the Ratchet-like nurse caught up with her. "You can't go in there-"

"The hell I can't!" she snapped. "I'm his sister!"

Nurse Ratchet was about to argue, but then noticed Yukina's height and eye color. "Okay," she said meekly. Yukina went inside.

Hiei looked up from the hospital bed. "You're not here to kill me, are you?" he asked groggily.

She smirked. "I see the anesthesia hasn't worn off yet. Don't worry, I'm not armed or anything." Yukina took a seat in a chair by the bed. "How do you feel?" she inquired.

"Fine," Hiei replied. "The surgery wasn't anything too major. What happened?"

"Cops stormed the garage; they were tailing Karasu. A couple of them went upstairs, and I guess they saw Kurama tending to you and took it the wrong way. They shot him."

"What?" Hiei asked sharply.

"Well, afterwards they realized that Kurama trying to help you- anyways, they had an ambulance on stand-by and you, those kids, Toguro, and Kurama were all brought here."

"How is he?"

"I don't know," Yukina answered, guessing to whom he meant. "I haven't seen him yet. Or Toguro." She shrugged.

Hiei hesitated a moment. "So, why'd you come to check on me?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because because!" she snapped. "What are you, three?"

Hiei smirked. "Didn't we play a game like that when we were three?"

In spite of herself, Yukina smiled a little. "I think we might have," she admitted.

Silence fell between the siblings. "So..." Hiei said. "Do you miss Sakyo at all?"

Yukina looked thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose. I mean, he wasn't a lover or anything like that, but he was still very kind to me and treated me like and actual person. And he was loyal to Kurama- it's kind of hard to find loyalty as a strong characteristic in most people these days."

Hiei nodded in agreement. "Kurama told me that Sakyo rescued you from someone named Tarukane."

"Yeah." Yukina frowned. "Tarukane was really mean."

"Did he ever-?"

"No. He tried, of course, but..." She smirked. "I guess he suffered from performance malfunction or something."

They both burst out laughing. Then, after a moment, Hiei asked, "Do you hate me?"

"What?" Yukina donned an odd look. "No."

Hiei blinked. "Really?"

"Really, really. What?" Hiei looked weird.

"I'm not going to wake up and find this all to be a dream?" Yukina shook her head. "What are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure that I might be in trouble with the police..." She shrugged again. "I'd better see if I can find Otouto..." Yukina turned to leave.

"Hey," Hiei called after her. "Could we... meet sometime, and talk some more?"

Yukina nodded. "I think I might like that."

Hiei watched her leave, and smiled. Maybe being kidnapped and shot had been worth it...

'Of course it was,' he thought, Kurama coming to mind.

A tap-tapping sound jerked him from his thoughts. "Hello, Yomi," he said to his business partner.

Yomi didn't return his greeting; he wore an expression upon his face that signified he was deep in thought. "Suichi Minamino..." the blind man mused. "Tell me Hiei, what was it like, being captive to him?"

Hiei shrugged, but then remembered that Yomi could not see. "Interesting," he said. "He's interesting, to say the very least. I first thought one thing of him, and then another, and..."

"He's an enigma," Yomi said. "Always has been."

"Yeah." And then Hiei furrowed his brow. "You speak as though you know him."

"I knew him," Yomi nodded. "When we were younger."

Hiei recalled something Kurama had said while describing Suichi's- his- childhood: 'Your Mukuro and Yomi came from the Makai District, too.' "Did Mukuro also know him?"

"No. Mukuro lived only a block from Suichi and me, but to us she was simply that sad-looking little girl one saw standing on the porch of her house, watching all the other children pass by on their way home from school. She inadvertently repelled people, and I regret that neither of us ever approached her.

"Though Mukuro and I were practically neighbors since infancy, we did not become personally acquainted until post-high school. Previous to that, Suichi had relocated to a shabby loft further downtown- his mother threw him out upon discovering he was a homosexual-"

"I know."

"- and despite the disapproval of my parents and peers, I still visited my old friend Suichi- thought by then he'd taken to answering to the name Kurama; I believe it was a name devised by his boyfriend, as a friendly way of teasing him about his work ethic, or something of that manner..." Yomi shrugged. "But these visits were abruptly ended when a clash between rival gangsters in front of the garage Suichi now lived over resulted in armed fighting; I was caught in the midst of it and lost function of my eyes as a result. I was thereafter incapable of making the trip downtown to see my friend unaccompanied, and nobody would be willing to escort me to the loft of a pair of homosexual lovers, even if one of them was a boy we'd all known for damn near two decades who'd inflicted nothing but good upon his neighbors and even complete strangers. People are stupid that way.

"And thus I stayed for a time strictly within the confines of the neighborhood I'd grown up in. Life to me then was quite droll, as I was still unaccustomed to my new world without light. I received help from neither my parents nor my neighbors- nobody wished to take time from their oh-so-important agendas so that I might begin to learn Braille or how to maneuver without sight."

Yomi had never before shared with him how he lost his sight. Hiei listened intently, at the same time observing from Yomi's account and recalling from Kurama's that the people who had lived in that neighborhood were not probably so pure and good as they would have thought themselves to be.

"Around this time I grew acquainted with Mukuro. She'd been out of town for a while, and had only recently returned from the hospital." What Yomi did not say, and did not have to say, was that Mukuro had been in the hospital having her body 'repaired' after mutilating it. "I never saw the 'monster' that the neighbors spoke of- I only heard a woman's voice, and never thought that a reason to turn away from her. The two of us eventually left together, thought you already know that.

"I came back periodically until my parents had died. As you know, I could not see, but I could hear; rumors were circulating around that quaint, jubilant little neighborhood"- Yomi said this with a bit of a sneer- "concerning Suichi- neighbors claimed that they'd spotted him in the downtown clad in women's clothing of a racy fashion and calling himself 'Yoko.' Everybody seemed convinced that he'd become a prostitute or something- of course, none of them were surprised, for we all know that the term homosexual is practically synonymous with being a sexually promiscuous deviant devoid of any moral fiber or good strong values whatsoever, do we not?" Yomi paused a moment to smile bitterly at his own satire. "Some people even blamed him for his mother's death, claiming that her sadness and struggle with having such a sinful son- a sodomite, a faggot, an abomination- drove this good moral woman to an early grave."

Hiei's eyes had been narrowing more and more throughout this story, and now they were so tiny of slits that he was barely able to make out the features of the blind man sitting beside his bed. People were far too stupid far too often. He by now clearly understood Kurama's hatred of the public, and vowed that when he finally brought the redhead home never again should he play the role of victim of other people's stupidity and prejudice. "Have you seen Kurama yet?" he asked.

"That's not possible," Yomi countered.

"Don't be so literal," said an annoyed Hiei. "You know what I mean."

"I do," replied the blind man, "and it's not possible."

Hiei blinked. "What?"

"There once was a time when Suichi and I were quite close, and even now after so many years of estrangement I do still pity him for all the wrongs inflicted upon him and everything he had to endure. And if he retained any of his original personality upon becoming 'the Yoko,' I'm sure you may have liked him at least a little too." Yomi sighed. "And now I am very sorry that I have to tell you that Suichi was pronounced D.O.A."

The billionaire's stomach churned. "Pardon?" he asked weakly.

"It means Dead On Arrival-."

"I know what it means," interrupted Hiei, his voice developing a somewhat shrill quality to it all of a sudden. "Why was he pronounced D.O.A.?"

"I would think that rather self-explanatory."

"Quit playing those mind games!" Hiei snapped. "How can he be dead? I was talking to him in the damn loft... I was going to help him get a light sentence; I was going to wait for him to get out; I was..." His voice faltered; he searched Yomi's face desperately. This was some horrible, tasteless joke- he was going to kill Yomi, the sick-humored bastard.

"Well, perhaps you liked him more than just a little. But Suichi's wound... They would not have been able to save him; they tried their hardest, the ambulance crew, and the surgeons in the E.R. tried to revive him, but he was gone."

Hiei felt as though he may vomit. "Did he suffer at all?"

"I don't know," Yomi replied honestly. "He was conscious for a time, and talking to one of the paramedics. She spoke to me afterward, when I inquired about him." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and offered it to Hiei. "She said that this was meant for you, that he had insisted on writing it himself and refused to allow her to do it for him."

Hiei took the paper, feeling horribly numb and empty as he did. The lettering was somewhat illegible, as though written by a shaking hand. This, combined with the fact that his own hands were trembling violently, made it so that he could barely read it. When he was finished he crumpled the note in his fist, brining it to his face. "Where is he right now?" he asked hoarsely. His eyes had begun to sting.

"He's in the morgue," Yomi answered softly. "They're doing an autopsy." "Why?" he hissed. "They know what killed him. That's so stupid."

"I think it's just procedure."

He nodded absently, staring at the creases of his hospital sheets. "Has anybody claimed the body?"

"No. I don't believe Suichi's survived by anybody. Why?"

"Tell them... Tell them that I'll make the arrangements, when they're through..."

Yomi nodded. "I'll do that now." He knew what Hiei wished to do, something that the Koorime would refuse to do with Yomi there to witness.

Hiei watched through stinging-hot watery eyes as Yomi left the room and shut the door behind him; he wanted to thank his partner but couldn't due to the lump in his throat. When he no longer heard the tap-tapping of the blind man's cane, he allowed this lump to dissolve and began bawling.