Ps. I think that Okuba was the name of that one in his gang who had the part time job when Kuwa was beat up and stuff, I think. Anyway this chapter is dedicated to Hithere because that was the only review I got but I'm going to keep writing anyway!
Disclaimer: I don't anything Yu Yu Hakusho.
Kuwabara hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, he'd been plagued with nightmares. Now, on his way to school, he shivered. Partly because he was nervous, in part because it was cold. He hid Eikichi in his school bag, as soon as he was out of sight he took her out, in fact he was holding her now. He had left for school early. He didn't want to see what would happen when his mom and sister found the note on his desk explaining that it was one of his friends birthdays and he had already promised them he'd be there and so he was spending the night at their place.
He made sure not to specify any one friend. His sister would probably call around but she'd be out of luck. He guessed she would figure it was someone she had never met, she'd probably be suspicious when team Urameshi and his school gang didn't know. He hoped she'd figure it was a girl or something. He also hoped she thought that maybe Eikichi just went out, but he knew that his sister knew that he never let Eikichi out without him after the alley fight incident involving a rival gang. Hey, he could have taken her along if he was meeting a girl, at least he hoped that was a believable scenario.
His sister would be out to get him, he at least hoped that they wouldn't find the note until after school or else he would have to skip. He still had no idea where he could stash Eikichi until after school without it looking suspicious. If he skipped school altogether there was a chance the school might call his house and then they would find the note and they would have a longer time to look for him.
As he approached the school he hoped that one of his gang members was skipping today, he'd trust them with Eikichi, they were willing to get beat up for her before.
"Hey, Kuwabara!" He turned to look and saw Okuba running up to him. 'Perfect' he thought. He sighed with relief as Okuba, a member of his gang who he had once helped out, came huffing up. "You,uh...wanna skip?"
"Okuba, could you do me a favor?"
"What is it ? Some one messin' with our gang again? On our territory? While I'll show-"
"Actually, I was wandering what you're doing?"
"Dunno, thought we could skip and go to the arcade or somethin', you up to it?"
"Can't, I'm planning on staying out tonight so I figured I should go to school now, but I do need something taken care of."
"Sure, name it, after that horrible week with that other gang, I owe you one."
"I was just wondering if you could take care of Eikichi while I'm in school."
"No prob' where is the little girl?"
Just then Kazuma's book bag meowed. Okuba started laughing. Kuwabara, sick with apprehension, forced a smile onto his face. Kuwabara unzipped his bag and picked up Eikichi. Okuba took her from him and she climbed on his shoulder.
"If you have any trouble, you know like another gang trying to... whatever, just come calling"
"I'll protect her with my life Kuwabara."
"Okuba.....thanks. It means a lot."
"Sure. Promise you'll skip with me sometime next week at least?"
Kuwabara nodded as the bell rang.
"See ya then Kuwabara!" Okuba yelled as he ran off, kitten in hand.
"Ja." Kazuma whispered quietly and made his way back into the school.
He entered the class as the last bell rang. Half and hour later he couldn't concentrate on his work and his hands were shaking. Not that he did his work that much but today he needed a distraction, and he did want to graduate. He looked around the room. He started to sweat, he wanted to lay his head on his desk. He felt nauseous. His vision was darkening. 'I have to leave' he thought and repeated the mantra in his head. The bell rang, his head snapped up to the clock, had he really been sitting here a full hour? He grabbed his books and tried to steady his shaky legs as he journeyed to his locker. He undid the lock and hurriedly stuffed his books inside. He practically wobbled to the nearest exit.
When he got outside he leaned against the school and closed his eyes drawing in a deep breath. It helped. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then he started to walk off in the direction of the closest arcade.
Kuwabara was checking his third arcade when he found Okuba at a pachinko machine. Eikichi was perched on top of the machine meowing loudly trying to fit in with Okuba's louder shouts.
"Okuba!"
Okuba turned his head, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
"Yo! 'ey Kuwabara" He said waving so hard it looked like he'd fall over. A small smile crept to Kazuma's lips as he made his way over to them.
"I knew you'd come! Couldn't concentrate 'ey? I can't either, I promised my ma that I wouldn't skip any next week though. I should really stop smokin' these things-cost too much." Okuba finished as he offered his cigarette to Kuwabara.
"Nah, I'm not in the mood, you work today?"
"Right after school."
"How're things going?"
"Great! My mom's recovering fast, maybe in a few months or more she'll be able to work from home."
"I'm glad, mind if I hang out with you and Eikichi awhile?"
"We'd love it, our gang hasn't seen much of you lately."
"I know, I'm sorry, hey Okuba you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
"Shoot."
"You won't be offended?"
"Of course not, it's you!"
"What happened to you old man?"
"Don't know, he kinda just ran out on us. Took all the money, everything."
'I now how you feel' Kuwabara thought silently. His father had taken all the money when he left too. His family was poor now but that would soon come to an end. His father would be home tonight.
"Do you remember him?"
"Yes, I remember that bakayarou, he'd cheat on ma, he even beat us sometimes. I was the one to put a stop to that once I joined your gang and learned to fight. What about your pa?"
"Never laid a finger on my ma or sis."
"Lucky you."
'Yes,' Kuwabara thought bitterly, 'lucky me.'
After that conversation Kuwabara hung around the arcade until Okuba had to leave for work.
"Come on, Eikichi, let's go to the park. My sis and mom don't know about it so we'll be safe."
Kuwabara made his way through the streets to the park. He found a remote place near the middle of the park after half an hour of walking. He was glad he never told his sister or mother about this place. Team Urameshi would sometimes meet here. He sighed, did he blow it for good? Would they still count him a member of Team Urameshi? They were supposed to meet sometime this week, he wondered if they would try to get a hold of him, that wouldn't go over to well with his mother.
He lay back flat on the ground watching the clouds with Eikichi resting on his stomach. He seemed frozen in time and hours later was pretty much in the same position. His eye lids were becoming heavy and he heard murmurs coming down the path and a group of people settle on the bench. Only when he heard them address him by name did his eyelids snap open. There were a row of trees separating him from the bench, no one could of saw him.
It was getting dark and for a moment he took on the terrible notion that his dad had come to look for him. He calmed somewhat as he strained to hear and recognized the voices. Koenma?
"......even though you don't have a mission yet, I'm sure you'll probably have one by the end of the week. I expect you to train, don't forget it."
Botan sweat dropped.
"Perhaps they should use this time to relax, Koenma. After all, they have worked very hard on the last couple of missions."
"Nonsense. They like to fight anyway. Make sure to tell Kuwabara to train too."
"I'm not telling that stupid oaf anything" Kuwabara recognized the voice as Yusuke.
"Don't look at me Koenma, I hate him, get Kurama too." Kuwabara almost laughed, that was definitely Hiei, he supposed it was insulting but....
"You shouldn't hold such a grudge against him, I bet you guys don't even have a reason for hating him." Ah, the always kind Kurama.
"I, Hiei, don't need to be justified for hating him."
"I hate him because he's a jerk and stupid and he always insults me and-"
"Yusuke."
"You know, he even ditched this meeting. He probably did that on purpose and then told his mom he was going out."
"Didn't you say that his mom said he would be back since it was an important occasion? He probably wouldn't miss it if it really mattered to his mom."
"Blah, Kurama you ruin all my theories, but fine, I don't care."
"Well, I'm going to check on him tomorrow, just in case. I'm sure his mother would appreciate it if we took him home when we saw him."
"Whatever, I'm hungry, I wanna eat and I gotta go meet Keiko. You guys wanna come? We're going to the arcade and.............."
Kuwabara tuned out the rest of the conversation. He blankly realized it was cold and proceeded to stuff Eikichi into his jacket. He faintly registered that they were leaving. He would be home tomorrow. What would his father say if he saw Kurama? Kazuma never had friends before. Kuwabara nervously settled against a tree under the dimming sky. He slept. His dreams were not so comforting.
AN: sorry if it wasn't very well-written. At least I reached my goal of one review. If you have any suggestions just say! Should I make it longer? I think I'll make the next chapter longer. Thanks for reading!